PR 4963 
.fl7 
1917 
Copy 1 



Number 45 



■ ■^ ^—v " ' i i uniimnm 



^^^^^^^^^^^D 




RIVERSIDE LITERATURE SERIES 



1. Longfellow's Evangeline. 

2. Longfellow's Courtship of Miles Standish. 

3. Dramatization of Miles Standish. 

4. Whittier's Snow- Bound, etc. 

5. Whittier's Mabel Martin. 

6. Holmes's Grandmother's Story. 

7. 8, 9. Hawthorne's Grandfather's Chair. 

10. Hawthorne's Biographical Series. 

11. Longfellow's Children's Hour, etc. 

12. Outlines — Longfellow, Whittier, Holmes, 

Lowell. 

13. 14. Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha. 

15. Lowell's Under the Old Elm, etc. 

16. Bayard Taylor's Lars. 

17. 18. Hawthorne's Wonder-Book. ^ 
19, 20. Franklin's Autobiography. 

21. Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac, e,tc. 

22, 23. Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales, v 

24. Washington's Farewell Addresses, etc, 

25, 26. Longfellow's Golden Legend. 

27. Thoreau's Forest Trees, etc. 

28. Burroughs's Birds and Bees. 

29. Hawthorne's Little Datfydowndilly, etc. 

30. Lowell's Vision of Sir Launfal, etc. 

31. Holmes's My Hunt after the Captain, etc. 

32. Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech, etc. 
33-35. Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn. 

36. Burroughs's Sharp Eyes, etc. 

37. Warner's A-Hunting of the Deer, etc. 

38. Longfellow's Building of the Ship, etc. 

39. Lowell's Books and Libraries, etc. 

40. Hawthorne's Tales of the White Hills. 

41. Whittier's Tent on the Beach, etc. 

42. Emerson's Fortune of the Republic, etc. 

43. Bryant's Ulysses among the Phseacians. 

44. Edgeworth's Waste not, Want not, etc. 

45. Maeaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome. 

46. Old Testament Stories. 

47. 48. Scudder's Fables and Folk Stories. 
49, 50. Andersen's Stories. 

51. Irving's Rip Van Winkle, etc. 

52. Irvhig's The Voyage, etc. 

53. Scott's Lady of the Lake. 

54. Bryant's Thaiiatopsis, etc. 

55. Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, 

56. Webster's First Bunker Hill Oration. 

57. Dickens's Christinas Carol. 

58. Dickens's Cricket on the Hearth. 

59. Verse and Prose for Beginners in Reading. 

60. 61. The Sir Roger de Ooverley Papers. 
62. Fiske's War of Independence. 

6.3. Longfellow's Paul Revere 's Ride, etc. 
64-66. Lambs' Tales from Shakespeare. 

67. Shakespeare's Julius C*sar. 

68. Goldsmith's Deserted Village, etc. 

69. Hawthorne's The Old Manse, etc. 

70. 71. Selection from Whittier's Child Life. 

72. Milton's'Minor Poems. 

73. Tennyson's Enoch Arden, etc. 

74. Gray's Elegy ; Cowper's John Gilpin. 

75. Scudder's George Washington. 

76. Wordsworth's Intimations of Immortality. 
?7. Burns's Cotter's Saturday Night, etc. 



78. Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield, 

79. Lamb's Old China, etc. 

80. Coleridge's Ancient Mariner ; Campbell's 

Lochiel's Warning, etc. 

81 . Holmes' s Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table. 

82. Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales. 

83. Eliot's Silas Marner. 

84. Dana's Two Years Before the Mast. 

85. Hughes's Tom Brown's School Days. . 

86. Scotfs Ivanlioe. 

87= Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. 

88. Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. 

89, 90. Swift's Gulliver's Voyages. 

91. Hawthorne's House of the Seven Gables. 

92. Burroughs's A Buncli of Herbs, etc. 

93. Shakespeare's As You Like It. 

94. Milton's Paradise Lost. Books I-III. 
95-98. Cooper's Last of tlie Moliicans. 
99. Tennyson's Cuming of Arthur, etc. • 

1(K3. Burke's Conciliatiun witli tlie Colonies. 

101. Pope's Hiad. Books I, VI, XXII, XXlV 

102. Macaulay's Johnson and Goldsmith. 

103. Macaulay's Milton. 

104. Macaulay's Addison. 

105. Carlyle's Essaj' on Burns. 

106. Shakespeare's Macbeth. 

107. 108. Grimms' Tales. 

109. Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. 

110. De Quincey's Flight of a Tartar Tribe. 

111. Tennyson's Princess. 

112. Cranch's ^neid. Books I-III, 

113. Poems from Emerson. 

114. Peabody's Old Greek Folk Stories. 

115. Browning's Pied Piper of Hauielin, et( 

116. Shakespeare's Hamlet. 

117. 118. Stories trom the Arabian Nights. 
119, 120. Poe's Poems and Tales. 

121. Speech by Hayne on Foote's Resolution. 

122. Speech by Webster in Reply to Hayne. 

123. Lowell's Democracy, etc. 

124. Aldrich's The Cruise of the Dolphm. 

125. Dryden's Palamon and Arcite. 

126. Ruskin's King of the Golden River, etc. 

127. Keats's Ode on a Grecian Urn, etc. 

128. Byron's Prisoner of Chillon, etc. 

129. Plato's Judgment of Socrates. 

130. Emerson's The Superlative, etc. 

131. Emerson's Nature, etc. 

132. Arnold's Solirab and Rustum, etc. 

133. Schurz's Abraham Lincoln. 

134. Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel. 

135. Chaucer's Prologue. 

1.36. Chaucer's Tlie Knight's Tale. etc. 

137. Bryant's Iliad. Bks. I, VI, XXII, XXIV. 

138. Hawthorne's The Custom Hovi.se, etc. 

139. Howells's Doorstep .\cquaintanoe, etc. 

140. Tliackeray's Henry Esmond. 

141. Higginson'.^ Three Outdoor Papers. 

142. Ruskins Sesame and Lilies, 

143. Plutarch's Alexander the Great. 

144. Scudder's The Book of Legends. 

145. Hawthorne's Tlie Gentle Boy, etc, 

146. Longfellow's Giles Corey. 



(See also hack covers.) 



(74) 



W\)t HibersiDe iliterature ^txit& 



LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME, 
THE AKMADA, IVRY, AND 
THE BATTLE OF NASEBY 



THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY 



WITH INTRODUCTIONS, AND 
EXPLANATORY NOTES 




BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 



,^*c^ 



k^ 



CONTENTS n !■.■?' 

PAGE 

Iktroduction 5 

hokatius 14 

The Battle of the Lake Kegillus 41 

Virginia 74 

The Prophecy of Capys 101 

The Armada 118 

IvRY, A Song of the Huguenots 124 

The Battle of Naseby 129 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Portrait of Lord Macaulay Frontispiece 

"Above the surges they saw his crest appear" . . 36 

Temples of Vesta and Castores 72 

The Roman Forum 84 



COPYRIGHT, 1S9O, BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. 
COPY-RIGHT, 1917, BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



JC 



-h 



Wiit 33liberKibe '^xtii 

CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS 
U . S . A 

©CU4fi7868 

uUL 17 1917 



LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME, 



INTRODUCTION. 

THAT what is called the history of the kings and 
early consuls of Rome is to a great extent fabulous, 
few scholars have, since the time of Beaufort, ventured to 
deny. It is certain that, more than three hundred and 
sixty years after the date ordinarily assigned for the 
foundation of the city, the public records were, with 
scarcely an exception, destroyed by the Gauls. It is 
certain that the oldest annals of the commonwealth 
were compiled more than a century and a half after 
the destruction of the records. It is certain, therefore, 
that the great Latin writers of a later period did not 
possess those materials without which a trustworthy 
account of the infancy of the republic could not possi- 
bly be framed. They own, indeed, that the chronicles 
to which they had access were filled with battles that 
were never fought, and consuls that were never inau- 
gurated ; and we have abundant proof that, in those 
chronicles, events of the greatest importance, such as 
the issue of the war with Porsena, and the issue of the 
war with Brennus, were grossly misrepresented. Under 
these circumstances a wise man will look with great 
suspicion on the legend which has come down to us. 
He will, perhaps, be inclined to regard the princes who 



6 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

are said to have founded the civil and reUgious institu- 
tions of Rome, the son of Mars, and the husband of 
Egeria, as mere mythological personages, of the same 
class with Perseus and Ixion. As he draws nearer 
and nearer to the confines of authentic history, he will 
become less and less hard of belief. He will admit 
that the most important parts of the nan'ative have 
some foundation in truth. But he will distrust almost 
all the details, not only because they seidom rest on any 
solid evidence, but also because he will constantly detect 
in them, even when they are within the limits of physi- 
cal possibility, that peculiar character, more easily un- 
derstood than defined, which distinguishes the creations 
of the imagination from the realities of the world in 
which we live. 

The early history of Rome is, indeed, far more po- 
etical than anything else in Latin literature. The loves 
of the Vestal and the God of War, the cradle laid 
among the reeds of Tiber, the fig-tree, the she-wolf, 
the shepherd's cabin, the recognition, the fratricide, the 
rape of the Sabines, the death of Tarj^eia, the fall of 
Hostus Hostilius, the struggle of Mettus Curtius through 
the marsh, the women rushing with torn raiment and 
dishevelled hair between their fathers and their hus- 
bands, the nightly meetings of Numa and the Nymph 
by the well in the sacred grove, the fight of the three 
Romans and the three Albans, the purchase of the 
Sibylline books, the crime of Tullia, the simulated mad- 
ness of Brutus, the ambiguous reply of the Delphian 
oracle to the Tarquins, the wrongs of Lucretia, the he- 
roic actions of Horatius Codes, of Scaevola, and of 
Cloelia, the battle of Regillus won by the aid of Castor 
and Pollux, the defence of Cremera, the touching story 



INTRODUCTION. 1 

of Coriolanus, the still more touching story of Virginia, 
the wild legend about the draining of the Alban lake, 
the combat between Valerius Corvus and the gigantic 
Gaul, are among the many instances which will at once 
suggest themselves to every reader. 

The Latin literature which has come down to us is of 
later date than the commencement of the Second Punic 
War, and consists almost exclusively of words fashioned 
on Greek models. The Latin metres, heroic, elegiac, 
lyric, and dramatic, are of Greek origin. The best 
Latin epic poetry is the feeble echo of the Iliad and 
Odyssey. The best Latin eclogues are imitations of 
Theocritus. The plan of the most finished didactic 
poem in the Latin tongue was taken from Hesiod. The 
Latin tragedies are bad copies of the masterpieces of 
Sophocles and Euripides. The Latin comedies are free 
translations from Demophilus, Menander, and Apollo- 
dorus. The Latin philosophy was borrowed, without 
alteration, from the Portico and the Academy ; and the 
great Latin orators constantly proposed to themselves 
as patterns the speeches of Demosthenes and Lysias. 

But there was an earlier Latin literature, a literature 
truly Latin, which has wholly perished, — which had, 
indeed, almost perished long before those whom we 
are in the habit of regarding as the greatest Latin 
writers were born. That literature abounded with met- 
rical romances, such as are found in every country 
where there is much curiosity and intelligence, but little 
reading and writing. All human beings, not utterly 
savage, long for some information about past times, and 
are delighted by narratives which present pictures to 
the eye of the mind. But it is only in very enlightened 



8 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

communities that books are readily accessible. Metrical 
composition, therefore, which, in a highly civilized na- 
ion is a mere luxury, is, in nations Imperfectly civil- 
zed, almost a necessary of life, and is valued less on 
jiccount of the pleasure vt^hich it gives to the ear than 
on account of the help which it gives to the memory. 
A man who can invent or embellish an interesting story, 
and p'lt it into a form which others may easily retain in 
their recollection, will always be highly esteemed by a 
people eager for amusement and information, but desti- 
tute of libraries. Such is the origin of ballad-poetry, a 
species of composition which scarcely ever fails to 
spring up and flourish in every society, at a certain 
point in the progress towards refinement. 

As it is agreeable to general experience that, at a 
certain stage in the progress of society, ballad-poetry 
should flourish, so is It also agreeable to general experi- 
ence that, at a subsequent stage in the progress of soci- 
ety, ballad-poetry should be undervalued and neglected. 
Knowledge advances ; manners change ; great foreign 
models of composition are studied and imitated. The 
phraseology of the old minstrels becomes obsolete. 
Their versification, which, having received its laws only 
from the ear, abounds in irregularities, seems licentious 
and uncouth. Their simplicity appears beggarly when 
compared with the quaint forms and gaudy coloring of 
such artists as Cowley and Gongora. The ancient lays, 
unjustly despised by the learned and polite, linger for a 
time in the memory of the vulgar, and are at length too 
often Irretrievably lost. We cannot wonder that the bal- 
lads of Rome should have altogether disappeared, when 
we remember how very narrowly, in spite of the inven* 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

tion of printing, those of our own country and those of 
Spain escaped the same fate. There is, indeed, little 
doubt that oblivion covers many English songs equal to 
any that were published by Bishop Percy, and many 
Spanish songs as good as the best of those which have 
been so happily translated by Mr. Lockhart. Eighty 
years ago England possessed only one tattered copy of 
Childe Waters and Sir Cauline, and Spain only one 
tattered copy of the noble poem of the Cid. The snuff 
of a candle, or a mischievous dog, might in a moment 
have deprived the world forever of any of those fine 
compositions. Sir Walter Scott, who united to the fire 
of a great poet the minute curiosity and patient dili- 
gence of a great antiquary, was but just in time to save 
the precious reliques of the Minstrelsy of the Border. 
In Germany, the lay of the Nibelungs had been long 
utterly forgotten, when, in the eighteenth century, it 
was for the first time printed from a manuscript in 
the old library of a noble family. In truth, the only 
people who, through their whole passage from simplicity 
to the highest civilization, never for a moment ceased to 
love and admire their old ballads, were the Greeks. 

That the early Romans should have had ballad-poetry, 
and that this poetry should have perished, is, therefore, 
not strange. It would, on the contrary, have been 
strange if these things had not come to pass ; and we 
should be justified in pronouncing them highly proba/- 
ble, even if we had no direct evidence on the subject ; 
but we have direct evidence of unquestionable authority. 

The proposition, then, that Rome had ballad-poetry 
is not merely in itself highly probable, but is fully 
proved \>j direct evidence of the greatest weight. 



10 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

This proposition being established, it becomes easy 
to understand why the early history of the city is un- 
like almost everything else in Latin literature, — native 
where almost everything else is borrowed, imaginative 
where almost everything else is prosaic. We can 
scarcely hesitate to pronounce that the magnificent, 
pathetic, and truly national legends, which present so 
striking a contrast to all that surrounds them, are bro- 
ken and defaced fragments of that early poetry which, 
even in the age of Cato the Censor, had become anti- 
quated, and of which Tully had never heard a line. 

That this poetry should have been suffered to perish 
will not appear strange when we consider how complete 
was the triumph of the Greek genius over the public 
mind of Italy. It is probable that at an early period 
Homer and Herodotus furnished some hints to the Latin 
minstrels ; but it was not until after the war with Pyr- 
rhus that the poetry of Rome began to put off its old 
Ausonian character. The transformation was soon con- 
summated. The conquered, says Horace, led captive 
the conquerors. It was precisely at the time at which 
the Roman people rose to unrivalled political ascend- 
ency thp'.; they stooped to pass under the intellectual 
yoke. It was precisely at the time at which the scep° 
tre departed from Greece that the empire of her lan= 
guage and of her arts became universal and despotic. 
The revolution, indeed, was not effected without a strug« 
^le. Nsevius seems to have been the last of the ancient 
line of poets. Ennius was the founder of a new dynasty. 
Ncevius celebrated the First Punic War in Saturnian 
verse, the old national verse of Italy. Ennius sang 
the Second Punic War in numbers borrowed from -the 
Iliad. The elder poet, in the epitaph which he wrote 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

For himself, and which is a fine specimen of the early 
Roman diction and versification, plaintively boasted that 
the Latin language had died with him. Thus, what to 
Horace appeared to be the first faint dawn of Roman 
literature, appeared to Naevius to be its hopeless setting. 
In truth, one literature was setting and another dawn- 
ing. 

The victory of foreign taste was decisive ; and indeed 
we can hardly blame the Romans for turning away with 
contempt from the rude Jays which had delighted their 
fathers, and giving their whole admiration to the im- 
mortal productions of Greece. The national romances, 
neglected by the great and the refined, whose education 
had been finished at Rhodes or Athens, continued, it 
may be supposed, during some generations, to delight 
the vulgar. While Virgil, in hexameters of exquisite 
modulation, described the sports of rustics, those rustics 
were still singing their wild Saturnian ballads. It is 
not improbable that, at the time when Cicero lamented 
the irreparable loss of the poems mentioned by Cato, a 
search among the nooks of the Apennines, as active as 
the search which Sir Walter Scott made among the de- 
scendants of the mosstroopers of Liddesdale, might 
have brought to light many fine remains of ancient min- 
strelsy. No such search was made. The Latin ballads 
perished forever. Yet discerning critics have thought 
that they could still perceive in the early history of 
Rome numerous fragments of this lost poetry, as the 
traveller on classic ground sometimes finds, built into 
the heavy wall of a fort or convent, a pillar rich with 
acanthus leaves, or a frieze where the Amazons and 
Bacchanals seem to live. The theatres and temples o^ 
the Greek and the Roman were degraded into the quar* 



12 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

ries of the Turk and the Goth. Even so did the ancient 
Saturnian poetry become the quarry in which a crowd 
of orators and annalists found the materials for their 
prose. 

It is not difficult to trace the process by which the 
old songs were transmuted into the form which they 
now wear. Funeral panegyric and chronicle appear co 
have been the intermediate links which connected the 
lost ballads with the histories now extant. From a very 
early period it was the usage that an oration should be 
pronounced over the remains of a noble Roman. The 
orator, as we learn from Polybius, was expected, on 
such an occasion, to recapitulate all the services which 
the ancestors of the deceased had, from the earliest 
time, rendered to the commonwealth. There can be 
little doubt that the speaker on whom this duty was im- 
posed would make use of all the stories suited to his 
purpose which were to be found in the popular lays. 
There can be little doubt that the family of an eminent 
man would preserve a copy of the speech which had 
been pronounced over his corpse. The compilers of the 
early chronicles would have recourse to these speeches, 
and the great historians of a later period would have 
recourse to the chronicles. 

Such, or nearly such, appears to have been the process 
by which the lost ballad-poetry of Rome was transformed 
into history. To reverse that process, to transform 
some portions of early Roman history back into the 
poetry out of which they were made, is the object of 
this work. 

In the following poems the author speaks, not in, his 
own person, but in the persons of ancient minstrels who 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

6now only what a Roman citizen, born three or four 
years before the Christian era, may be supposed to have 
known, and who are in no wise above the passions and 
prejudices of their age and nation. To these imagi- 
nary poe<-s must be ascribed some blunders, which are so 
obvious that it is unnecessary to point them out. The 
real blunder would have been to represent these old 
poets as deeply versed in general history, and studious 
of chronological accuracy. To them must also be at- 
tributed the illiberal sneers at the Greeks, the furious 
/ai'ty spirit, the contempt for the arts of peace, the love 
of war for its own sake, the ungenerous exultation over 
the vanquished, which the reader will sometimes observe. 
To portray a Roman of the age of Camillus or Curius 
as superior to national antipathies, as mourning over the 
devastation and slaughter by which empire and triumphs 
were to be won, as looking on human suffering with the 
sympathy of Howard, or as treating conquered enemies 
with the delicacy of the Black Prince, would be to vio« 
late all dramatic propriety. The old Romans had 
some great virtues, — fortitude, temperance, veracity, 
spirit to resist oppression, respect for legitimate author* 
ity, fidelity in the observing of contracts, disinterested- 
ness, ardent patriotism ; but Christian charity and chiv 
alrous generosity were alike unknown to them. 

It would have been obviously improper to mimic the 
manner of any particular age or country. Something 
has been borrowed, however, from our own ballads, and 
more from Sir Walter Scott, the great restorer of our 
ballad-poetry. To the Iliad still greater obligations are 
due ; and those obligations have been contracted with 
the less hesitation because there is reason to believe that 
some of the old Latin minstrels really had recourse to 
that inexhaustible store of poetical images. 



HORATIUS. 

There can be little doubt that among those parts of 
early Roman history which had a poetical origin was 
the legend of Horatius Codes. We have several ver- 
sions of the story, and these versions differ from each 
other in points of no small importance. Polybius, there 
2s reason to believe, heard the tale recited over the re- 
mains of some consul or praetor descended from the old 
Horatian patricians ; for he introduces it as a sjDecimen 
of the narratives with which the Romans were in the 
habit of embellishing their funeral oratory. It is re- 
markable that, according to him, Horatius defended the 
bridge alone, and perished in the waters. According to 
the chronicles which Livy and Dionysius followed, Hora- 
tius had two companions, swam safe to shore, and was 
loaded with honors and rewards. 

It is by no means unlikely that there were two old 
Roman lays about the defence of the bridge ; and that, 
while the story which Livy has transmitted to us was 
preferred by the multitude, the other, which ascribed 
the whole glory to Horatius alone, may have been the 
favorite with the Horatian house. 

The following ballad is supposed to have been made 
about a hundred and twenty years after the war which 
it celebrates, and just before the taking of Rome by the 
Gauls. The author seems to have been an honest, citi- 
iien, proud of the military glory of his country, sick of 



HO RATI us, 15 

the disputes (jf factions, and much given to pining after 
good old times which had never really existed. The 
allusion, however, to the partial manner in which the 
public lands were allotted could proceed only from a 
plebeian ; and the allusion to the fraudulent sale of spoils 
marks the date of the poem, and shows that the poet 
shared in the general discontent with which the pro- 
ceedings of Camillus, after the taking of Veii, were 
regarded. 

[The legendary history makes an Etruscan dynasty ot 
three kings, Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and 
Tarquinius Superbus, to have ruled Rome successively ; 
but the tyranny of the house became so hateful that the 
Tarquinian family was banished, and a republic, governed 
by two magistrates called consuls, chosen annually, was 
set up 509 B. c, or in the year 244 from the foundation 
of Rome. Tarquin attempted, first by .atrigue and 
then by open war, to recover his throne ; it was then 
that he sought the alliance of Porsena, who ruled over 
Etruria, and the ballad that follows narrates the exploit 
of Horatias when the city was defending itself] 



16 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

HORATIUS. 

A. LAY MADE ABOUT THE YEAR OF THE CITI CCCLX 



Lars Porsena of Clusium 

By the Nine Gods he swore 
That the great house of Tarquin 

Should suffer wrong no more. 
8 By the Nine Gods he swore it, 

And named a trysting day, 
And bade his messengers ride forth 
East and west and south and northj, 

To summon his array. 

2 

i-o East and west and south and north 
The messengers ride fast, 
And tower and town and cottage 

Have heard the trumpet's blast. 
Shame on the false Etruscan 
m Who lingers in his home. 
When Porsena of Clusium 
Is on the march for Rome. 

3 

The horsemen and the footmen 
Are pouring in amain 

1. Lars in the Etruscan tongue signified chieftain. Clusium is the modera 
tjhiusi. 

2. The Romans had a tradition that there were nine great Etruscan gods. 



HORATIUS. 17 

•?o From many a stately market-place ; 
From many a fruitful plain ; 
From many a lonely hamlet, 

Which, hid by beech and pine, 
Like an eagle's nest, hangs on the cresfc 
M Of purple Apennine ; 



From lordly Volaterrse, 

Where scowls the far-famed hold 
Piled by the hands of giants 

For godlike kings of old ; 
30 From seagirt Populonia, 

Whose sentinels descry 
Sardinia's snowy mountain-tops 

Fringing the southern sky ; 

5 

From the proud mart of Pisse, 

35 Queen of the western waves, 

Where ride Massilia's triremes 

Heavy with fair-haired slaves ; 
From where sweet Clanis wanders 

Through corn and vines and flowers ; 



26. Volaterrce, modern Vollerra, 

2V. "The situation of the Etruscan towns is one of the most striking char. 
acteristics of Tuscan scenery. Many of them occupy surfaces of table-land 
surrounded by a series of gullies not visible from a distance. The traveller 
ihus may be a whole day reaching a pla,ce which in the morning may have- 
seemed to him but a little way off," — Dennis, Cities and Cemeteries o^ 
Etruria. 

34. Pisce, now Pisa. 

3G. Massilia, the ancient Marseilles, which originally was a Greek colony- 
fl,nd a great commercial centre. 

37. The fair-haired slaves were doubtless slaves from Gaul, bought aa<S 
eold by the Greek merchants. 

38. Clanis, the modern la Chicana, 



18 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

«o From where Cortona lifts to heaven 
Her diadem of towers. 

6 

Tall are the oaks whose acorns 

Drop in dark Auser's rill ; 
Fat are the stags that champ the boughs 
46 Of the Ciminian hill ; 
^ Beyond all streams Clitumnus 

Is to the herdsman dear ; 
Best of all pools the fowler loves 
The great Volsinian mere- 

7 

8C But now no stroke of woodman 
Is heard by Auser's rill ; 
No hunter tracks the stag's green path 

Up the Ciminian hill ; 
Unwatched along Clitumnus 
w Grazes the milk-white steer ; 
Unharmed the waterfowl may dip 
In the Volsinian mere. 

8 

The harvests of Arretium, 
This year, old men shall reap, 
60 This year, young boys in Umbro 



43. The Atiser was a tributary stream of the river Amo. 

46. Clitumnus, Clituno in modern times. 

49. Volsinian mere, now known as Lago di Bolsena. 

^8. Arretium, now Arezzo. 

60. Umbro, the river Ombrone. All this region was occupied by the Etrus- 
eans, and since the men had gone to fight Rome, only the old and very 
young would be left to carry on the work of the country. 



HO RATI us, 19 

Shall plunge the struggling sheep? 
And in the vats of Luna, 

This year, the must shall foam 
■ Round the white feet of laughing girls 
56 Whose sire? have marched to Rome. 

9 

There be thirty chosen prophets, 

The wisest of the land, 
Who alway by Lars Porsena 

Both morn and evening stand : 
TO Evening and morn the Thirty 

Have turned the verses o'er, 
Traced from the right on linen white 

By mighty seers of yore. 

10 

And with one voice the Thirty 
75 Have their glad answer given : 
*' Go forth, go forth, Lars Porsena ; 
Go forth, beloved of Heaven : 
Go, and return in glory 
To Clusium's royal dome ; 
80 And hang round Nurscia's altars 
The golden shields of RoticO." 

11 

And now hath every city 
Sent up her tale of men : 

66. The Etruscan religion was one of sorcery, and their prophets were 
augurs who sought to know the will of the gods by various outward signs ; 
such as the flight of birds, the direction of lightning, and the mystic writings 
of the prophets before them. 

72. The Etruscan writing was from right to left. 

83. Tale of men. Compare Milton's lines m UAllegrOt—" 



20 LAYS Of ANCIENT ROME, 

The foot are fourscore thousand, 
85 The horse are thousands ten. 
Before the gates of Sutrium 

Is met the great array. 
A proud man was Lars Porseua 
Upon the trysting day. 

12 

30 For all the Etruscan armies 

Were ranged beneath his eye> 
And many a banished Roman, 

And many a stout ally ; 
And with a mighty following 
S6 To join the muster came 
The Tusculan Mamilius, 
Prince of the Latian name. 

13 

But by the yellow Tiber 
Was tumult and affright : 
ioo From ail the spacious champaign 
To Rome men took their flight. 
A mile around the city, 

The throng stopped up the ways 5 
A fearful sight it was to see 
105 Through two long nights and days. 

14 

For aged folks on crutches, 
And women great with child, 

*' And every shepherd tells his tale 
Under the hawthorn, in the dale.* 
The tally which we keep is a kindred word. 
S6. Sutrium is iSuiri to-day. 



HO RAT I us. 21 

And mothers sobbing over babes 
That clung to them and smiled, 
tio And sick men borne in litters 
High on the necks of slaves, 

And troops of sunburnt husbandmen 
With reaping-hooks and staves, 

15 

And droves of mules and asses 
ii6 Laden with skins of wine, 

And endless flocks of goats and sheep, 

And endless herds of kine, 
And endless trains of wagons 
That creaked beneath the weight 
120 Of corn-sacks and of household goods, 
Choked every roaring gate. 

16. 

Now, from the rock Tarpeian, 

Could the wan burghers spy 
The line of blazing villages 
125 Red in the midnight sky. 
The Fathers of the City, 

They sat all night and day. 
For every hour some horseman came 

With tidings of dismay. 

17 

130 To eastward and to westward 

Have spread the Tuscan bands ; 

122. The Tarpeian rock was a cliff on the steepest side of the Capitoline 
Hill in Rome, and overhung the Tiber. 

1 23. Burghers, Macaulay uses a very modern word to describe the mes 
Df Rome. 

126. The Fathers of Ihe City, otherwise the Senators of Rome, 



22 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

Nor house nor fence nor dovecote 

In Crustumerium stands. 
Verbenna down to Ostia 
iW Hath wasted all the plain ; 
Astur hath stormed Janiculum, 
And the stout guards are slain. 

18 

Iwis, in all the Senate, 

There was no heart so bold, 
140 But sore it ached, and fast it beat, 
When that ill news was told. 
Forthwith up rose the Consul,. 

Up rose the Fathers all ; 
In haste they girded up their gownSj 
14B And hied them to the wall. 

19 

They held a council standing 

Before the River-Gate ; 
Short time was there, ye well may guess, 

For musing or debate. 
150 Out spake the Consul roundly : 

" The bridge must straight go down ; 
For, since Janiculum is lost. 

Naught else can save the town." 



1&4. Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber, vas the port of Romtj. 
t!>6. Tlie Janiculan hill was on the right bank of the Tiber. 
138. Iwis. Compare Lowell's lines in Credidimus Jovem regnare : ■^ 
" God vanished long ago, iwis, 
A mere subjective synthesis." 
Rs meaning is " certainly." 

151. The bridge was the Sublician bridge, said to have been thrown across 
ttie Tiber by Ancua Martius in the year 114 of the city. 



no RAT JUS. 28 

20 

Just then a scout came flying, 
155 All wild with haste and fear ; 
*' To arms ! to arms ! Sir Consul. : 

Lars Porsena is here." 
On the low hills to westward 
The Consul fixed his eye, 
160 And saw the swarthy storm of dust 
Rise fast along the sky. 

21 

And nearer fast and nearer 

Doth the red whirlwind come ; 
And louder still and still more loud, 
165 From underneath that rolling cloud, 
Is heard the trumpet's war-note proud, 

The trampling, and the hum. 
And plainly and more plainly 

Now through the gloom appears, 
ITO Far to left and far to right, 

In broken gleams of dark-blue light, 
The long array of helmets bright, 

The long array of spears. 

22 

And plainly, and more plainly 

IT6 Above that glimmering line. 

Now might ye see the banners 

Of twelve fair cities shine : 
But the banner of proud Clusium 

Was highest of them all, 

IT7. The Etruscan confederacy was composed of twelve citiet 



24 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME, 

180 The terror of the Umbrian, 
The terror of the Gaul. 

23 
And plainly and more plainly 

Now might the burghers know. 
By port and vest, by horse and crest, 
186 Each warlike Lucumo. 
There Cilnius of Arretium 

On his fleet roan was seen ; 
And Astur of the fourfold shield, 
Girt with the brand none else may wield^ 
190 Tolumnius with the belt of gold, 
And dark Verbenna from the hold 
By reedy Thrasymene. 

24 

Fast by the royal standard, 
O'erlooking all the war, 
195 Lars Porsena of Clusium 
Sat in his ivory ear. 
By the right wheel rode Mamilius, 

Prince of the Latian name ; 
And by the left false Sextus, 
200 That wrought the deed of shame. 



184. By port and vest, i. e., by the way he carried himself and by his dress, 
Vesl, an abbreviation of vesture. 

185. L/ucumo was the name given by the Latin writers to the Etruscan 
chiefs. 

192. Thrasj/mene or Trasimenus is Lago di Perugia, and was famous in 
Roman history as the scene of a victory by Hannibal, the Carthaginian gen- 
eral, over the Roman forces. 

197. Octavius Mamilius of Tusculum married the daughter of Tarquinius. 

199. Sextus, a son of Tarquinius, and the one whose wickedness was the 
Immediate cause of the expulsion of the Tarquins. 



HORATIUS, 25 

25 

But when the face of Sextus 

"Was seen among the foes, 

A yell that rent the firmament 

From all the town arose. 

S06 On the house-tops was no woman 

But spat towards him and hissed, 
No child but screamed out curses, 
And shook its little fist. 

26 

But the Consul's brow was sad, 
210 And the Consul's speech was low, 
And darkly looked he at the wall, 

And darkly at the foe. 
" Their van will be upon us 
Before the bridge goes down ; 
ai5 And if they once m^y win the bridge^ 
What hope to save the town ? " 

27 

Then out spake brave Horatius, 

The Captain of the Gate : 
" To every man upon this earth 
220 Death cometh soon or late 
And how can man die better 
Than facing fearful odds, 
For the ashes of his fathers, 
And the temjiles of his Gods, 

S36 '* And for the tender mother 
Who dandled him to rest. 



26 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

And for the wife who nurses 

His baby at her breast, 
And for the holy maidens 
830 Who feed the eternal flame, 
To save them from false Sextus 

That wrought the deed of shame ? 

29 

** Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul, 
With all the speed ye may ; 
235 I, with two more to help me, 
Will hold the foe in play. 
In yon strait path a thousand 

May w^ell be stopped by three. 
Now who will stand on either hand, 
240 And keep the bridge with me ? '* 

30 

Then out sjDake Spurius Lartlus ; 

A Ramnian proud was he : 
" Lo, I will stand at thy right hand, 
And keep the bridge with thee." 
245 And out spake strong Herniinius ; 
Of Titian blood was he : 
" I will abide on thy left side, 
And keep the bridge with thee." 

2?9. The V estal Virgins were bound by vows of celibacy, and kept burning 
the sacred tire of Vesta. The order survived till near the close of the fourth 
century of our era. For a very interesting account of the House of the 
Vestal Virgins, see Lanciani, Ancient Home in the Light of Recent Discov- 
eries. 

242. The Ramnes were one of the three tribes who comprised the Roman 
Patricians, or noble class. 

246. The Tities were another of these three tribes. 



EORATIUS. 21 

31 

" Horatius," quoth the Consul, 
860 " As thou sayest, so let it be." 
And straight against that great array 

Forth went the dauntless Three. 
For Romans in Rome's quarrel 
Spared neither land nor gold, 
866 Nor son nor wife, nor limb nor life. 
In the brave days of old. 

32 

Then none was for a party ; 

Then all were for the state ; 
Then the great man helped the poorj 
s6u And the poor man loved the great i 
Then lands were fairly portioned ; 

Then spoils were fairly sold : 
The Romans were like brothers 

In the brave days of old. 

33 

S66 Now Roman is to Roman 
More hateful than a foe, 
And the Tribunes beard the high. 
And the Fathers grind the low. 
As we wax hot in faction, 
270 In battle we wax cold : 

Wherefore men fight not as they fought 
In the brave days of old. 



267. The Tribunes were officers who represented the tribes of the comnnan 
people or Plehs of Rome. In the time when the ballad is supposed to be 
written, there were two strong parties, the Fathers or Patricians {Patres), 
the Common People or Plebs. 



28 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME, 

34 

Now while the Three were tightening 
Their harness on their backs, 
276 The Consul was the foremost man 
To take in hand an axe : 
And Fathers mixed with Commons 

Seized hatchet, bar, and crow, 
And smote upon the planks above, 
280 And loosed the jDrops below. 

35 

Meanwhile the Tuscan army, 

Right glorious to behold, 
Came flashing back the noonday light, 
Rank behind rank, like surges bright 
286 Of a broad sea of gold. 

Four hundred trumpets sounded 

A peal of warlike glee, 
As that great host, with measured tread, 
And spears advanced, and ensigns spread, 
290 Rolled slowly towards the bridge's head, 
Where stood the dauntless Three. 

36 

The Three stood calm and silent. 

And looked upon the foes, 
And a great shout of laughter 
295 From all the vanguard rose ; 

And forth three chiefs came spurring 

Before that deep array ; 

277. Commons. Macaulay, an English Whig, used a political word very 
dear to him, as representing the rise of English parliamentary government. 

280. The props held up the bridge from below. The Latin word for props 
waa sublicae ; hence the Sublician bridge. 



HORATIUS. 29 

To earth they sprang, their swords they drew, 
And lifted high their shields, and flew 
300 To win the narrow way ; 

37 

Annus from green Tiferniim, 

Lord of the Hill of Vines ; 
And Seius, whose eight hundred slaves 

Sicken in Ilva's mines ; 
30f And Picus, long to Clusium 

Vassal in peace and war, 
Who led to fight his Umbrian powers 
From that gray crag where, girt with towers^ 
The fortress of Nequinum lowers 
810 O'er the pale waves of Nar. 

38 

Stout Lartius hurled down Aunus 

Into the stream beneath : 
Herminius struck at Seius, 

And clove him to the teeth : 
815 At Picus brave Horatius 

Darted one fiery thrust ; 
And the proud Umbrian's gilded arms 

Clashed in the bloody dust. 

39 

Then Ocnus of Falerii 
820 Rushed on the Roman Three ; 

301. Tifernum was on the west side of the Apennmes, near the source oi 
the Tiber. It is now Citta di Castello. 

304. Ilva is the modern Elba, renowned as the island to which Napoleon 
was banished. 

309. Nequinum, afterward Narnia and now Narni, on the ban&s. of the 
Nar. 



30 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

And Lausulus of Urgo, 

The rover of the sea ; 
And Aruns of Volsinium, 

Who slew the great wild boar, 
325 The great wild boar that had his den 
Amidst the reeds of Cosa's fen, 
And wasted fields, and slaughtered men, 

Along Albinia's shore. 

40 

Herminius smote dowai Aruns : 
330 Lartius laid Ocnus low : 
Right to the heart of Lausulus 

Horatius sent a blow. 
" Lie there," he cried, '• fell pirate ! 
No more, aghast and pale, 
?36 From Ostia's walls the crowd shall mark 
The track of thy destroying bark. 
No more Campania's hinds shall fly 
To woods and caverns when they spy 
Thy thrice accursed sail." 

41 

340 But now no sound of laughter 
Was heard among the foes. 
A wild and wrathful clamor 

From all the vanguard rose. 
Six spears' lengths from the entrance 
945 Halted that deep array. 

And for a space no man came forth 
To win the narrow way. 

322. The Etruscans were pirates as well as merchanta. 



EORATIUS. 3^ 

42 

But hark ! the cry is Astur : 

And lo ! the ranks divide ; 

?B0 And the great Ijord of Luna 

Comes with his stately stride. 
Upon his ample shoulders 

Clangs loud the fourfold shield, 
And in his hand he shakes the brand 
356 Which none but he can wield. 

43 

He smiled on those bold Romans 

A smile serene and high ; 
He eyed the flinching Tuscans, 

And scorn was in his eye. 
860 Quoth he, " The she-wolf's litter 

Stand savagely at bay : 
But will ye dare to. follow, 

If Astur clears the way ? '* 

44 

Then, whirling up his broadsword 
36B With both hands to the height, 
He rushed against Horatius, 

And smote with all his might. 
With shield and blade Horatius 

Right deftly turned the blow. 
370 The blow, though turned, came yet too nigh ; 
It missed his helm, but gashed his thigh : 
The Tuscans raised a joyful cry 

To see the red blood flow. 

360. The she-icolf:: litter. The reference is to the story of the suckling oi 
ftomulus and Remus by a she-wolf. 



32 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

45 

He reeled, and on Herminius 
37B He leaned one breathing-space ; 

Then, like a wild-cat mad with wounds, 

Sprang right at Astur's face. 
Through teeth, and skull, and helmet, 
So fierce a thrust he sped, 
380 The good sword stood a handbreadth out 
Behind the Tuscan's head. 

46 

And the great Lord of Luna 
Fell at that deadly stroke, 

As falls on Mount Alvernus 
S86 A thunder-smitten oak. 

Far o'er the crashing forest 
The giant arms lie spread ; 

And the pale augurs, muttering low. 
Gaze on the blasted head. 

47 

39a On Astur's throat Horatius 

Right firmly pressed his heel. 
And thrice and four times tugged amaioj 

Ere he wrenched out the steel. 
" And see," he cried, " the welcome, 
396 Fair guests, that vvaits you here ^ 
What noble Lucumo comes next 
To taste our Roman cheer ? " 

48 

But at his haughty challenge 
A sullen murmur ran, 



EORATIUS. 

400 Mingled of wrath and shame and dread, 
Along that glittering van. 
There lacked not men of prowess 

Nor men of lordly race ; 
For all Etruria's noblest 
40B Were round the fatal place. 

49 

But all Etruria's noblest 

Felt their hearts sink to see 
On the earth the bloody corpses, 

In the path the dauntless Three : 
iio And, from the ghastly entrance 

Where those bold Romans stood, 

All shrank, like boys who unaware. 

Ranging the woods tu start a hare. 

Come to the mouth of the dark lair 

41B Where, growhng low, a fierce old beai 

Lies amidst bones and blood. 

50 

Was none who would be foremost 

To leatl such r'>e attack : 
But those behind cried " Forward ! ** 
420 And those before cried •' Back ! *' 
And backward now and forward 

Wavers the deep array ; 
And on the tossing sea of steel, 
To and fro the standards reel ; 
425 And the victorious trumpet-peal 
Dies fitfully away 



84 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME, 

61 

Yet one man for one moment 
Stood out before the crowd ; 

Well known was he to all the Three, 
430 And they gave him greeting loud, 

" Now welcome, welcome, Sextus ! 
Now welcome to thy home ! 

Why dost thou stay, and turn away ? 
Here lies the road to Rome." 

52 

436 Thrice looked he at the city ; 

Thrice looked he at the dead ; 
And thrice came on in fury, 

And thrice turned back in dread ; 
And, white with fear and hatred, 
440 Scowled at the narrow way 

Where, wallowing in a pool of bloodj 
The bravest Tu^scans lay. 

53 

But meanwhile axe and lever 
Have manfully been plied ; 
44P And now the bridge hangs tottering 
Above the boiling tide. 
'' Come back, come back, Horatius 1 * 

Loud cried the Fathers all. 
" Back, Lartius ! back, Herminius i 
«o Back, ere the ruin fall ! " 

54 

Back darted Spurius Lartius ; 
Herminius darted back : 



HO RATI us. 8S 

And, as they passed, beneath their feet 

They felt the timbers crack. 
«&6 But when they turned their faces, 

And on the farther shore 
Saw brave Horatius stand alone. 

They would have crossed once more^ 

55 

But with a crash like thunder 
MO Fell every loosened beam, 

And, like a dam, the mighty wretik 

Lay right athwart the stream ; 
And a long shout of triumph 
Rose from the walls of Rome, 
465 As to the highest turret-tops 

Was splashed the yellow foam. 

56 

And, like a horse unbroken 

When first he feels the rein, 
The furious river struggled hard, 
470 And tossed his tawny mane, 
And burst the curb, and bounded, 

Rejoicing to be free, 
And whirling down, in fierce career 
Battlement, and plank, and pier, 
475 Rushed headlong to the seft. 

57 

Alone stood brave Horatius, 

But constant still in mind ; 
Thrice thirty thousand foes before. 

And the broad flood behind. 



36 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

«80 " Down with him ! " cried false Sextus, 
With a smile on his pale face. 
" Now yield thee," cried Lars Porsena, 
" Now yield thee to our grace." 

58 

Round turned he, as not deigning 
4se Those craven ranks to see ; 
Naught spake he to Lars Porsena;, 

To Sextus naught spake he ; 
But he saw on Palatinus 

The white porch of his home ; 
490 And he spake to the noble river . 

That rolls by the towers of Rom£ 

59 

"0 Tiber! father Tiber! 

To whom the Romans pray, 
A Roman's life, a Roman's arms, 
495 Take thou in charge this day ! " 
So he spake, and speaking sheathed 

The good sword by his side. 
And with his harness on his back 

Plunged headlong in the tide. 

60 

500 No sound of joy or sorrow 

"Was heard from either bank ; 
But friends and foes in dumb surprise, 
With parted lips and straining eyes, 
Stood gazing where he sank ; 
505 And when above the surges 

488. Mons Palatinus survives in the Palatine hill of modem Rome. 








'A-,*! And when above the surges 
They saw his crest appear, 
All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry, 
And even the ranks of Tuscany 
Could scarce forbear to cheer. 



From drawing by George Scharf, Jr., in " Lays of Ancient Rome," by permission of the 
publishers, Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co. 



±1 OR ATI us 37 

They saw his crest appear. 
All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry, 
And even the ranks of Tuscany 

Could scarce forbear to cheer. 

61 

810 But fiercely ran the current, 

Swollen high by months of rain : 
And fast his blood was flowing, 

And he was sore in pain, 
And heavy with his armor, 
* 615 And spent with changing blowp : 
And oft they thought him sinking, 
But still again he rose. 

62 

Never, I ween, did swimmer, 
In such an evil ca«e, 
620 Struggle through such a raging flood 
Safe to the landing-place : 
But his limbs were borne up bravely 

By the brave heart within, 
And our good father Tiber 
625 Bore bravely up his chin. 

525. Macaiilay notes as passages in Englisn literature which he had !n mini 
when he wrote this : — 

" Our ladye bare upp herchinne." 

Ballad of Childe Waters. 
" Never heavier man and horse 
Stemmed a midnight torrent's force ; 



Yet, through good heart and onr Lady's grace, 
At length he gained the landing-place." 

Lay of the Last Minstrel 



38 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

63 

'' Curse on him ! " quoth false Sextus ; 

*' Will not the villain drown ? 
But for this stay, ere close of day 
We should have sacked the town ! " 
630 " Heaven help him ! " quoth Lars Porsena, 
" And brmg him safe to shore ; 
For such a gallant feat of arms 
Was never seen before." 

64 

And now he feels the bottom ; * 

B36 Now on dry earth he stands ;. 
Now round him throng the Fathers 

To press his gory hands ; 
And now, with shouts and clapping. 
And noise of weeping loud, 
340 He enters through the River-Gate, 
Borne by the joyous crowd. 

65 

They gave him of the corn-land, 

That was of public right. 
As much as two strong oxen 
545 Could plough from morn till night ; 
And they made a molten image, 

And set it up on high. 
And there it stands unto this day 

To witness if I lien 



HORATIUS. B9 

66 

560 It stands in the Comitium, 
Plain for all folk to see ; 
Horatius in his harness, 

Halting upon one knee : 
And underneath is written, 
365 In letters all of gold, 

How valiantly he kept the bridge 
In the brave days of old. 

67 

And still his name sounds stirrJng 
Unto the men of Rome, 
160 As the trumpet-blast that cries to them 
To charge the Volscian home ; 
And wives still pray to Juno 

For boys with hearts as bold 
As his who kept the bridge so well 
565 In the brave days of old. 

68 

And in the nights of winter. 

When the cold north-winds blow, 
And the long howling of the wolves 

Is heard amidst the snow ; 
670 When round the lonely cottage 

Roars loud the tempest's din, 
And the good logs of Algidus 

Roar louder yet within ; 

550. The Comitium was that part of the Forum which served as the meet« 
ing-place of the Roman patricians. 

573. The Romans brought some of their firewood from the hill of Algidua 
about a dozen miles to the southeast of the town. 



40 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

69 
When the oldest cask is opened, 
67B And the largest lamp is lit ; 

When the chestnuts glow in the embers, 

And the kid turns on the spit ; 
When young and old in circle 
Around the firebrands close ; 
R80 When the girls are weaving baskets, 
And the lads are shaping bows ; 

70 

When the goodman mends his armor. 
And trims his helmet's plume ; 

When the goodwif e's shuttle merrily 
685 Goes flashing through the loom, — 

With weeping and with laughter 
Still is the story told, 

How well Horatius kept the bridge 
In the brave days of old. 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 

The following poem is supposed to have been pro- 
duced ninety years after the lay of Horatius. Some 
persons mentioned in the lay of Horatius make their 
appearance again, and some appellations and epithets 
used in the lay of Horatius have been purposely re- 
peated ; for, in an age of ballad-poetry, it scarcely ever 
fails to happen, that certain phrases come to be appro- 
priated to certain men and things, and are regularly 
ajDplied to those men and things by every minstrel. 

The principal distinction between the lay of Horar 
tius and the lay of the Lake Regillus is, that the former 
is meant to be purely Roman, while the latter, though na- 
tional in its general spirit, has a slight tincture of Greek 
learning and of Greek superstition. The story of the 
Tarquins, as it has come down to us, appears to have 
been compiled from the works of several popular 
poets ; and one at least of those poets appears to have 
visited the Greek colonies in Italy, if not Greece itself, 
and to have had some acquaintance with the works of 
Homer and Herodotus. Many of the most striking 
adventures of the house of Tarquin, before Lucretia 
makes her appearance, have a Greek character. . , . 
The Battle of the Lake Regillus is in all respects a 
Homeric battle, except that the combatants ride astride 
on their horses, instead of driving chariots. The mass 
of fighting men is hardly mentioned. The leaders 
single each other out, and engage hand to hand. The 



42 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

great object of the warriors on "both sides is, as in the 
Iliad, to obtain possession of the spoils and bodies of 
the slain ; and several circumstances are related which 
forcibly remind us of the great slaughter round the 
corpses of Sarpedon and Patroclus. 

In the following' poem, therefore, images and incl 
dents have been borrowed, not merely without scruple, 
but on principle, from the incomparable battle-pieces of 
Homer. 

The popular belief at Rome, from an early period, 
seems to have been that the event of the great day of 
Regillus was decided by supernatural agency. Castor 
and Pollux, it was said, had fought, armed and mounted, 
at the head of the legions of the commonwealth, aiid 
had afterwards carried the news of the victory with 
incredible speed to the city. The well in the Forum 
at which they had alighted was pointed out. Near the 
well rose their ancient temple. A great festival was 
kept to their honor on the ides of Quintilis, supposed to 
be the anniversary of the battle ; and on that day sump- 
tuous sacrifices were offered to them at the public 
charge. One spot on the margin of Lake Regillus was 
regarded during many ages with superstitious awe. A 
mark, resembling in shape a horse's hoof, was discern- 
ible in the volcanic rock ; and this mark was believed 
to have been made by one of the celestial chargers. 

How the legend originated cannot now be ascertained : 
but we may easily imagine several ways in which it 
might have originated ; nor is it at all necessary to sup' 
pose, with Julius Frontinus, that two young men were 
dressed up by the Dictator to personate the sons of Leda. 
It is probable that Livy is correct when he says that 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE RE GILL US, 43 

fche Roman general, in the hour of peril, vowed a tem- 
ple to Castor. If so, nothing could be more natural 
than that the multitude should ascribe the victory to the 
favor of the Twin Gods. When such was the prevailing 
sentiment, any man who chose to declare that, in the 
midst of the confusion and slaughter, he had seen two 
godlike forms on white horses scattering the Latines, 
would find ready credence. We know, indeed, that in 
modern times a very similar story actually found cre- 
dence among a people much more civilized than the 
Romans of the fifth century before Christ. A chaplain 
of Cortes, writing about thirty years after the conquest of 
Mexico, in an age of printing-presses, libraries, univer- 
sities, scholars, logicians, jurists, and statesmen, had the 
face to assert that in one enorafjement aoainst the Indiana 
St. James had appeared on a grey horse at the head of 
the Castilian adventurers. Many of these adventurers 
were living when this lie Was printed. One of them, 
honest Bernal Diaz, wrote an account of the expedition. 
He had the evidence of his own senses against the 
legend ; but he seems to have distrusted even the evi- 
dence of his own senses. He says that he was in the 
battle, and that he saw a gray horse with a man on 
his back, but that the man was, to his thinking, Fran- 
cesco de Morla, and not the ever-blessed apostle St. 
James. " Nevertheless," Bernal adds, " it may be that 
the person on the grey horse was the glorious apostle St. 
James, and that I, sinner that I am, was unworthy to 
see him." The Romans of the age of Cincinnatus were 
probably quite as credulous as the Spanish subjects of 
Charles the Fifth. It is therefore conceivable that the 
appearance of Castor and Pollux may have become an 
article of faith before the generation which had fought 
at Regillus had passed away. Nor could anything be 



44 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

more natural than that the poets of the next age should 
embellish this story, and make the celestial horsemen 
bear the tidings of victory to Rome. ... It was or- 
dained that a grand muster and inspection of the eques- 
trian body [the knights of RomeJ should be part of the 
ceremonial performed on the anniversary of the battle 
of Regillus in honor of Castor and Pollux, the two 
equestrian gods. All the knights, clad in purple and 
crowned with olive, were to meet at a Temple of Mars 
in the suburbs. Thence they were to ride in state to 
the Forum, where the Temple of the Twins stood. This 
pageant was, during several centuries, considered as one 
of the most splendid sights of Rome. In the time of 
Dionysius the cavalcade sometimes consisted of five 
thousand horsemen, all persons of fair re23ute and easy 
fortune. 

There can be no doubt that the Censors, who insti- 
tuted this august ceremony, acted in concert with the 
Pontiffs, to whom, by the constitution of Rome, the 
superintendence of the public worship belonged ; and it is 
probable that those high religious functionaries were, as 
usual, fortunate enough to find in their books or tradi- 
tions some warrant for the innovation. The following 
poem was supposed to have been made for this great 
occasion. 

[The battle of Lake Regillus was the last attempt 
of the Tarquins to regain their supremacy in Rome. 
Tarquin applied to his son-in-law, Octavius Mamilius of 
Tusculum, to aid him. A confederacy of thirty Latin 
cities supported him, and Rome, which called itself 
Latin, thus had the appearance of being in revolt. The 
Romans appointed Aulus Posthumius dictator, and their 
victory over the confederacy marked the beginning of 
tlie Roman supremacy in Italy.] 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 45 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 

i LAY SUXG AT THE FEAST OF CASTOR AXD POLLUX 
ON THE IDES OF QUINTILIS, IN THE YEAR OF THE 
CITY CCCCLI. 



Ho, trumpets, sound a war-ii-ote ! 

Ho, lictors, clear the way ! 
The Knights will ride in all their pride 

Along the streets to-day. 
5 To-day the doors and windows 

Are hung with garlands all, 
From Castor in the Forum 

To Mars without the wall. 
Each Knight is robed in purple, 
10 With olive each is crowned ; 
A gallant war-horse under each 

Paws haughtily the ground. 
While flows the Yellow River, 

While stands the Sacred Hill, 
16 The proud Ides of Quintilis 

Shall have such honor stilL 
Gay are the Mai-tian Kalends : 

2. The lictors were the body-guard of the magistrates, and were armed 
with rods and axes. 

3. Macaulay gives a modern name to members of the Roman order, whc 
might be said to correspond with the Knights of the Order of St. George. 

7. That is, from the Temple of Castor within the Forum to the Temple of 
Mars. 

13. The yellow Tiber, from the yellow sands which colored the water. 

15. The Roman year began with March. QuintUis, the fifth month, was 
therefore July ; the Ides was the middle of the month. 

17. The Kalends was the first day of the month. On the first of March 



46 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

December's Nones are gay : 
But the proud Ides, when the squadron rides, 
30 Shall be Rome's whitest day. 



Unto the Great Twin Brethren 

We keep this solemn feast. 
Swift, swift, the Great Twin Brethren 

Came spurring from the east. 
26 They came o'er wild Parthenius, 

Tossing in waves of pine, 
O'er Cirrha's dome, o'er Adria's foam, 

O'er purple Apennine, 
From where with flutes and dances 
80 Their ancient mansion rings, 
In lordly Lacedsemon, 

The City of two kings, 
To where, by Lake Regillus, 

Jnder the Porcian height, 

the sacred fire was rekindled on the hearth of the Temple of Vesta. It wag 
New Year's Day, and one of festivity. 

18. December''s Nones, the fifth of December. 

21. The Great Twin Brethren, Castor and Pollux, were the Box and Cox of 
ancient mythology. They are held by some to have represented the alterna- 
tion of sun and moon. 

25. They came o''er wild Parthenius. " These lines describe the course oi 
the mysterious riders from their Eastern birthplace. The Parthenian range 
is the eastern barrier of the Arkadian or central highlands of the Pelopon- 
nese. Cirrha was the port on the Corinthian gulf for the landing of pil- 
grims for the great shrine of Delplii. Adria or Hadria was the name by 
which the Romans spoke of the Adriatic Sea ; and the Apennines formed the 
backbone of Italy, which the twin riders had to cross before they could reacJ 
Rome." — Cox. 

31. Sparta, the city of the Lacedaemonians, was said to be the city of Cae > 
ior and Pollux, who were sometimes spoken of as the brotherc of Helen, 
wife of Menel.aus, the chieftain of the Lacedaemonians. 

32. Anciently there were two heads of the Spartan state. 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 41 

36 All in the lands of Tusculum, 

Was fought the glorious fight 



Now on the place of slaughter 

Are cots and sheepfolds seen, 
And rows of vines, and fields of wheat, 
10 And apple-orchards green ; 
The swine crush the big acorns 

That fall from Corne's oaks. 
Upon the turf by the Fair Fount 

The reaper's pottage smokes. 
« The fisher baits his angle ; 

The hunter twangs his bow ; 
Little they think on those strong limbs 

That moulder deep below. 
Little they think hpw sternly 
30 That day the trumpets pealed ; 
How in the slippery swamp of blood 

Warrior and war-horse reeled ; 
How wolves came with fierce gallop, 

And crows on eager wings, 
36 To tear the flesh of captains. 

And peck the eyes of kings ; 
How thick the dead lay scattered 

Under the Porcian height ; 
How through the gates of Tusculum 
30 Raved the wild stream of flight ; 
And how the Lake Regillus 

Bubbled with crimson foam, 
What time the Thirty Cities 

Came forth to war with Rome. 

>i. Tusculum was near the modern Frascati, and stood on the height named 
Mha, Lonea. 



i8 LAYS OF ANCIENT BOMB. 

4 
65 But, Roman, when thou standest 
Upon that holy giound, 
Look thou with heed on the dark rock 

That girds the dark lake round, 
So shalt thou see a hoof-mark 
JO Stamped deep into the flint : 
It was no hoof of mortal steed 
That made so strange a dint : 
There to the Great Twin Brethren 
Vow thou thy vows, and pray 
78 That they, in tempest and in fight, 
Will keep thy head alway. 



Since last the Great Twin Brethren 

Of mortal eyes were seen, 
Have years gone by an hundred 
30 And fourscore and thirteen. 
That summer a Virginius 

Was Consul first in place ; 
The second was stout Aulus, 

Of the Posthumian race. 
m The Herald of the Latines 

From Gabii came in state : 
The Herald of the Latines 

Passed through Rome's Eastern Gate 
The Herald of the Latines 
^0 Did in our Forum stand ; 
And there he did his office, 

A sceptre in his hand. 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 49 



*' Hear, Senators and people 
Of the good town of Rome, 
95 The Thirty Cities charge you 
To bring the Tarquins home > 
And if ye still be stubborn, 

To work the Tarquins wrong, 
The Thirty Cities warn you, 
ioo Look that your walls be strong.'^'' 



Then spake the Consul Aulu^, 

He spake a bitter jest : 
" Once the jays sent a message 

Unto the eagle's nest : 
lOB Now yield thou up thine eyrie 

Unto the carrion-kite, 
Or come forth valiantly, and face 

The jays in mortal fight. 
Forth looked in wrath the eagle ; 
uo And carrion-kite and jay. 

Soon as they saw his beak and claift 

Fled screaming far away.'* 

8 

The Herald of the Latines 
Hath hied him back in state | 
115 The Fathers of the City 
Are met in high debate. 

Thus spake the elder Consul, 
An ancient man and wise * 



5(? LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

" Now hearken, Conscript Fatlierss 
aao To that which I advise. 
In seasons of great peril 

'T is good that one bear sway ; 
Then choose we a Dictator, 
Whom all men shall obey. 
125 Camerium knows how dee2)ly 
The sword of Aulus bites, 
And all our city calls him 

The man of seventy fights. 
Then let him be Dictator 
Z30 For six months and no more, 
And have a Master of the Knights., 
And axes twenty-four." 



So Aulus was Dictator, ' 

The man of seventy fights ; 
135 He made ^butius Elva 

His Master of the Knights. 
On the third morn thereafter, 

4t dawning of the day, 
Did Aulus and ^butius 
140 Set forth with their array. 
Sempronius Atratinus 

Was left in charge at home 
With boys, and with gray-headed men, 
To keep the walls of Rome. 
145 Hard by the Lake Regillus 

Our camp was pitched at night ; 

119. The Conscript Fathers were those members of the Patrician (patres) 
virder whose names were written down {conscripti) in the Senate roll. 

T32. Each of the two Consuls had twelve Lictors. The Dictator was now 
to have all of these. 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGLLLUS. 51 

Eastward a mile the Latlnes lay, 

Under the Porcian height. ' 

Far over hill and valley 
ISO Their mighty host was spread ; 

4-nd with their thousand watch-fires 
The midnight sky was red. 

10 

Up rose the golden morning 

Over the Porcian height, 
1B5 The proud Ides of Quintilis 

Marked evermore with white. 
Not without secret trouble 

Our bravest saw the foes ; 
For girt by threescore thousand spears. 
160 The thirty standards rose. 
From every warlike city 

That boasts the Latian namev 
Foredoomed to dogs and vultures, 

That gallant army came ; 
165 From Setia's purple vineyards, 

From Norba's ancient wall, 
From the white streets of Tusculum, 

The proudest town of all ; 
From where the Witch's Fortress 
170 O'erhangs the dark-blue seas ; 
From the still glassy lake that sleeps 

Beneath Aricia's trees, — 
Those trees in whose dim shadow 

The ghastly priest doth reign, 

165. Setia, modern Sezze. 

166. Norba, modern Norma. 

169. The WitcL'i Fortress was Circeii, so called because it was tha mc^ 
posed home of Circe. 



52 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

176 The priest who slew the slayer, 
And shall himself be slain ; 
From the drear banks of Ufens, 

AYhere flights of marsh-fowl play, 
And buffaloes lie wallowing 
180 Through the hot summer's day ; 
From the gigantic watch-towers, 

No work of earthly men, 
Whence Cora's sentinels o'erlook 
The never-ending fen ; 
185 From the Laurentian jungle, 
The wild hog's reedy home ; 
From the green steeps whence Anio leaps 
In floods of snow-white foam. 

n 

Aricia, Cora, Norba, 
190 Velitrae, with the might 
Of Setia and of Tusculum, 

Were marshalled on the right: 
The leader was Mamilius, 
Prince of the Latian name ; 
196 Upon his head a helmet 

Of red gold shone like flame ; 
High on a gallant charger 



175. " According to the story told by Pausanias, Hippolytus, the son of 
Theseus, on being raised from the dead by Ji^sculapius, crossed the sea and 
tame to Aricia, where he dedicated a temple to Artemis. The priest of this 
cemple was to be a runaway slave who had conquered his opponent in single 
combat. Thus a slave who challenged the existing priest and slew him would 
himself at once become the priest, and remain so till he should himself be 
worsted by another." — Ccx. 

177. The Ufens reappears in modem Italy in U,ITsnto, on the banks of the 
Poutatore. 

183. Cora, now ^JfL 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 53 

Of dark-gray hue he rode ; 
Over his gilded armor 
200 A vest of purple flowed, 
Woven in the land of sunrise 

By Syria's dark-browed daughters, 
And by the sails of Carthage brought 

Far o'er the southern waters. 

12 

206 Lavinium and Laurentum 

Had on the left their post, 
With all the banners of the marshy 

And banners of the coast. 
Their leader was false Sextus, 
210 That wrought the deed of shame : 
With restless pace and haggard face 

To his last field he came. 
Man said he saw strange visions 
Which none beside might see, 
215 And that strange sounds were in his ears 
Which none might hear but he, 
A woman fair and stately, 

But pale as are the dead, 
Oft through the watches of the night 
220 Sat spinning by his bed. 
And as she plied the distaff. 
In a sweet voice and low. 
She sang of great old houses. 
And fights fought long ago. 
sss So spun she, and so sang she, 
Until the east was gray. 
209. See the lay of Horatius> staoaa 24k 



54 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

Then pointed to her bleeding breast. 
And shrieked, and fled away. 

13 

But in the centre thickest 
230 Were ranged the shields of foes, 
And from the centre loudest 

The cry of battle rose. 
There Tibur marched and Pedum 
Beneath proud Tarquin's rule, 
S36 And Ferentinum of the rock, 
And Gabii of the pool. 
There rode the Volscian succors : 

There, in a dark stern ring, 
The Roman exiles gathered close 
240 Around the ancient king. 
Though white as Mount Soracte, 
When winter nights are long, 
His beard flowed down o'er mail and belt. 
His heart and hand were strong ; 
34S Under his hoary eyebrows 

Still flashed forth quenchless rage, 
And, if the lance shook in his gripe, 

'T was more with hate than age. 
Close at his side was Titus 
250 On an Apulian steed, 
Titus, the youngest Tarquin, 
Too good for such a breed. 

14 

Now on each side the leaders 

Gave signal for the charge ; 

268 And on each side tJie footmep 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS, 65 

Strode on with lance and targe ; 
And on each side the horsemen 

Struck their spurs deep in gore, 
And front to front the armies 
260 Met with a mighty roar : 
And under that great battle 

The earth with blood was red ; 
And, like the Pomptine fog at morn, 

The dust hung overhead ; 
365 And louder still and louder 

Rose from the darkened field 
The braying of the war-horns, 

The clang of sword and shield, 
The rush of squadrons sweeping 
270 Like whirlwinds o'er the plain, 
The shouting of the slayers, 

And screeching of the slain. 

15 

False Sextus rode out foremost ; 

His look was high and bold ; 
275 His corselet was of bison's hide, 

Plated with steel and gold. 
As glares the famished eagle 

From the Digentian rock 
On a choice lamb that bounds alone 
280 Before Bandusia's flock, 
Herminius glared on Sextus, 

And came with eagle speed, 
Herminius on black Auster, 

Brave champion on brave steed ; 

26a. The Pomptine, usually called the Pontine, marshes extended over the 
iowlanda of Latium, 



56 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

285 In his right hand the broadsword 
Tliat kept the bridge so well, 
And on his helm the crown he won 

When proud Fidenae fell. 
Woe to the maid whose lover 
290 Shall cross his path to-day ! 
False Sextus saw, and trembled, 

And turned, and fled away. 

As turns, as flies, the woodman 

In the Calabrian brake, 

295 When through the reeds gleams the round eye 

Of that fell speckled snake ; 

So turned, so fled, false Sextas, 

And hid him in the rear. 
Behind the dark Lavinian ranks, 
300 Bristling with crest and spear. 

16 
But far to north ^butius. 

The Master of the Knights, 
Gave Tubero of Norba 

To feed the Porcian kites. 
305 Next under those red horse-hoofs 
Flaccus of Setia lay ; 
Better had he been pruning 
Among his elms that day. 
Mamilius saw the slaughter, 
310 And tossed his golden crest, 

And towards the Master of the Knights 

Through the thick battle pressed. 
JEbutius smote Mamilius 
So fiercely on the shield 
315 That the great lord of Tusculum 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE RE GILL US. 57 

Wellnigh rolled on the field. 
Mamilius smote ^butius, 

With a good aim and true, 
Just where the neck and shoulder join, 
320 And pierced him through and through ; 
And brave -<iEbutius Elva 

Fell swooning to the ground, 
But a thick wall of bucklers 

Encompassed him around. 
328 His clients from the battle 

Bare him some little space, 
And filled a helm from the dark lake, 

And bathed his brow and face ; 
And when at last he opened 
330 His swimming eyes to light, 

Men say, the earliest word he spake 

"Was, " Friends, how goes the fight ? *' 

But meanwhile in the centre 

Great deeds of arms were wrought? 
asB There Aulus tlie Dictator 

And there Valerius fought. 
Aulus with hie good broadsword 

A bloody passage cleared 
To where, amidst the thickest foes, 
340 He saw the long white beard. 
Flat lighted that good broadsword 

Upon proud Tarquin's head. 
He dropped the lance ; he dropped the reins j 



325. The word clients now applies mainly to those whom lawyers defend in 
the courts. The Roman term applied to those who were attached to tht 
great Patrician families* and were in turn defended by them. 



68 /.AYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

He fell as fall the dead. 
ATy Down Aulus springs to slay him, 

With eyes like coals of fire ; 
But faster Titus hath sprung down, 

And hath bestrode his sire. 
Latian captains, Roman knights, 
3»o Fast down to earth they spring, 
And hand to hand they fight on foot 

Around the ancient kino;. 
First Titus gave tall Caeso 

A death wound in the face ; 
380 TaU Cseso was the bravest man 

Of the brave Fabian race : 
Aulus slew Rex of Gabii, 

The priest of Juno's shrine : 
Valerius smote down Julius, 
360 Of Home's great Julian line j 
Julius, who left his mansion 

High on the Velian hill, 
And through all turns of weal and woe 

Followed proud Tarquin still. 
36ft Now right across proud Tarquin 

A corpse was Julius laid ; 
And Titus groaned with rage and grie^ 

And at Valerius made. 
Valerius struck at Titus, 
870 And lopped off half his crest ; 
But Titus stabbed Valerius 

A span deep in the breast. 
Like a mast snapped by the tempest, 

Valerius reeled and fell. 

860 The Julian house of Rome professed to trace its lineage back t^ 
Solus, grandson of .£neas, the T.rojaii lefusee 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 59 

»T6 Ah ! woe is me for the good house 

That loves the people well ! 
Then shouted loud the Latines, 

And with one rush they bore 
The struggling Romans backward 
380 Three lances' length and more ; 
And up they took proud Tarquin, 

And laid him on a shield, 
And four strong yeomen bai*8 him, 

Still senseless, from the field. 

18 

386 But fiercer grew the fighting 
Around Valerius dead ; 
For Titus dragged him by the foot, 

And Aldus by the head. 
"On, Latines, on ! " quoth Titus, 
390 *' See how the f ebels fly ! " 

" Romans, stand firm ! " quoth Aulus^ 

" And win this fight or die ! 
They must not give Valerius 
To raven and to kite ; 
395 For aye Valerius loathed the wrong, 
And aye upheld the right ; 
And for your wives and babies 

In the front rank he fell. 
Now play the men for the good house 
400 That loves the people well ! *' 

19 

Then tenfold round the body 

The roar of battle rose. 
Like the roar of a burning foTi'est 



60 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

When a strong north-wind blows. 

409 Now backward, and now forward, 

Rocked furiously the fray, 
Till none could see Valerius, 

And none wist where he lay. 
For shivered arms and ensigns 

410 Were heaped there in a mound, 
And corpses stiff, and dying men 

That writhed and gnawed the ground | 
And wounded horses kicking, 
And snorting purple foam ; 
418 Right well did such a couch befit 
A Consular of Rome. 

20 

But north looked the Dictator ; 

North looked he long and hard ; 
And spake to Caius Cossus, 
420 The Captain of his Guard : 
" Caius, of all the Romans 

Thou hast the keenest sight ; 
Say, what through yonder storm of dust 

Comes from the Latian right ? " 

21 

426 Then answered Caius Cossus : 
" I see an evil sight : 
The banner of proud Tusculum 
Comes from the Latian right; 
I see the plumed horsemen ; 
«30 And far before the rest 
I see the dark-gray charger, 
I see the purple vest ; 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 61 

I see the golden helmet 

That shines far off like flame ; 
t3B So ever rides Mamilius, 

Prince of the Latian name.*' 

22 

"Now hearken, Caius Cossus : 

Spring on thy horse's back ; 
Ride as- the wolves of Apennine 
440 Were all upon thy track ; 
Haste to our southward battle. 

And never draw thy rein 
Until thou find Herminius, 

And bid him come amain." 

23 

446 So Aulus spake, and turned him 
Again to that fierce strife ; 
And Caius Cossus mounted, 

And rode for death and life. 
Loud clanged beneath his horse-hoofs 
4B0 The helmets of the dead. 

And many a curdling pool of blood 
Splashed him from heel to head. 
So came he far to southward, 
Where fought the Roman host, 
MB Against the banners of the marsh 
And banners of the coast. 
Like corn before the sickle 
The stout Lavinians fell, 
Beneath the edge of the true sword 
MO That kept the bridge so well 



62 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME, 

24 
" Herminius ! Aulus greets thee ; 
He bids thee come with speed, 
To help our central battle ; 
For sore is there our need. 
ft65 There wars the youngest Tarquin, 
And there the Crest of Flame, 
The Tusculan Mamilius, 

Prince of the Latian name. 
Valerius hath fallen fighting 
«70 In front of our array, 

And Aulus of the seventy fields 
Alone upholds the day." 

25 

Herminius beat his bosom, 
But never a word he spake. 
*78 He clapped his hand on Auster's mane, 
He gave the reins a shake, 
Away, away went Auster, 

Like an arrow from the bow ; 
Black Auster was the fleetest steed 
480 From Aufidus to Po. 

26 

Right glad were all the Romans 

Who, in that hour of dread, 
Against great odds bare up the war 

Around Valerius dead, 

466. That is, the gleaming crest on the helmet of the Latin chief. 
480. From Aufidus to Po, the two rivers which on the south and nortb 
dolose central Italy. 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 6? 

485 When from the south the cheering 
Rose with a mighty swell : 
" Herminius comes, Herminius, 
Who kept the bridge so well I " 

27 

Mamilius spied Herminius, 
496 And dashed across the way. 
" Herminius ! I have sought thee 

Through many a bloody day. 
One of us two, Herminius, 
Shall nevermore go home. 
19B I will lay on for Tusculum, 

And lay thou on for R-ome 1 ** 

28 

All round them paused the battle, 

While met in riiortal fray 
The Roman and the Tusculan, 
500 The horses black and gray. 
Herminius smote Mamilius 

Through breastplate and through breast; 
And fast flowed out the purple blood 

Over the purple vest. 
006 Mamilius smote Herminius 

Through head-piece and through head ; 
And side by side those chiefs of pride 

Together fell down dead. 
Down fell they dead together 
810 In a great lake of gore ; 

And still stood all who saw them fail 

While men might count a score* 



64 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME, 

29 

Fast, fast, with heels wild spurning, 

The dark-gray charger fled ; 

515 He burst through ranks of fighting menu 

He sprang o'er heaps of dead. 

His bridle far out-streaming, 

His flanks all blood and foam, 
He sought the southern mountains, 
520 The mountains of his home. 

The pass was steep and rugged. 

The wolves they howled and whined ; 
But he ran like a whirlwind up the pass, 
And he left the wolves behind. 
325 Through many a startled hamlet 
Thundered his flying feet ; 
He rushed through the gate of Tusculuiflj 

He rushed up the long white street ; 
He rushed by tower and temple, 
330 And paused not from his race 

Till he stood before his master's door 

In the stately market-place. 
And straightway round him gathered 
A pale and trembling crowd, 
536 And when they knew him, cries of rage 
Brake forth, and wailing loud : 
And women rent their tresses 

For their great prince's fall ; 
And old men girt on their old swords, 
540 And went to man the wall. 

30 

But, like a graven image, 
Black Auster kept his place. 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 65 

And ever wistfully he looked 

Into his master's face. 
545 The raven-mane that daily, 

With pats and fond caresses, 
The young Herminia washed and combed. 

And twined in even tresses, 
And decked with colored ribands 
860 From her own gay attire, 

Hung sadly o'er her father's corj^se 

In carnage and in mire. 
Forth with a shout sprang Titus, 

And seized black Auster's rein. 
655 Then Aulus sware a fearful oath, 

And ran at him amain. 
" The furies of thy brother 

With me and mine abide. 
If one of your accursed house 
b60 Upon black Auster ride ! " 
As on an Alpine watch-tower 

From heaven comes down the Hame, 
Full on the neck of Titus 

The blade of Aulus came ; 
565 And out the red blood spouted, 

In a wide arch and tall, 
As spouts a fountain in the court 

Of some rich Capuan's hall. 
The knees of all the Latines 
570 Were loosened with dismay 
When dead, on dead Herminius, 

The bravest Tarquin lay. 



568. The luxury of Capua has passed into a proverb, since, a hundred 
years after this lay was supposed to be sung, Hannibal's soldiers, w ao could 
triumph in battle, were subjugated by Capua's seductions. 



LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

31 
And Aulus the Dictator 

Stroked Auster's raven mane, 
67B With heed he looked unto the girths, 
With heed unto the rein. 
" Now bear me well, black Auster, 

Into yon thick array ; 
And thou and I will have revenge 
080 For thy good lord this day." 

32 

So spake he ; and was buckling 

Tighter black Auster's band, 
When he was aware of a princely pair 

That rode at his right hand. 
585 So like they were, no mortal 

Might one from other know ; 
White as snow their armor was, 

Their steeds were white as snow. 
Never on earthly anvil 
590 Did such rare armor gleam ; 
And never did such gallant steeds 

Drink of an earthly .stream. 

33 

And all who saw them trembled, 
And pale grew every cheek ; 
595 And Aulus the Dictator 

Scarce gathered voice to speak. 
" Say by what name men call you ? 

What city is your home ? 
And wherefore ride ye in such guise 
(soo Before the ranks of Rome ? " 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 67 

34 

" By many names men call us ; 

In many lands we dwell : 
Well Samothracia knows us ; 

Cyrene knows us well. 
606 Our house in gay Tarentum 

Is hung each morn with flowers; 
High o'er the masts of Syracuse 

Our marble portal towers ; 
But by the proud Eurotas 
610 Is our dear native home ; 

And for the right we come to fight 

Before the ranks of Rome." 

35 

So answered those strange horsemen, 
And each couched low his spear ; 
ftiB And forthwith all the ranks of Rome 
Were bold, and of good cheer. 
And on the thirty armies 

Came wonder and affright, 
And Ardea wavered on the left, 
620 And Cora on the right. 

*' Rome to the charge ! " cried Aulas ; 

" The foe begins to yield ! 
Charge for the hearth of Vesta ! 
Charge for the Golden Shield ! 
626 Let no man stop to plunder, 

603. Samothracia was an island in the ^gean. 

604. Cyrene was a Greek colony on the north coast of Africa. 

605. Tarentum, a wealthy Greek city in southern Italy. 
609. The Eurotas was the river flowing past Lacediemon. 

624. The Golden Shield, in the traditions of Rome, was that of the firofi Mara 
which had fallen from heaven in the days of Nuina Pompilius. 



6S LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

But slay, and slay, and slay ; 
The gods who live forever 
Are on our side to-day." ' 

36 

Then the fierce trumpet-flourish 
630 From earth to heaven arose. 

The kites know well the long stern swell 

That bids the Romans close. 
Then the good sword of Aulus 
Was lifted up to slay ; 
«3o Then, like a crag down Apennine, 
Rushed Auster through the fray. 
Bat under those strange horsemen 

Still thicker lay the slain ; 
And after those strange horses 
640 Black Auster toiled in vain. 
Behind them Rome's long battle 

Came rolling on the foe, 
Ensigns dancing wild above. 
Blades all in line below. 
640 So comes the Po in flood-time 
Upon the Celtic plain ; 
So comes the squall, blacker than night, 

Upon the Adrian main. 
Now, by our Sire Quirinus, 
600 It was a goodly sight 
To see the thirty standards 

Swept down the tide of flight. 
So flies the spray of Adria 

When the black squall doth blow, 
606 So corn-sheaves in the flood-time 

649. Quirinus was the name of the deifed Romulus. 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 6? 

Spin down the whirling Po. 
False Sextus to the mountains 

Turned first his horse's head i 
And fast fled Ferentinura, 
660 And fast Lanuvium fled. 
The horsemen of Nomentum 

Spun*ed hard out of the fray ; 
The footmen of Velitrse 

Threw shield and spear away. 
66S And underfoot was trampled, 

Amidst the mud and gore, 
The banner of proud Tusculum, 

That never stooped before. 
And down went Flaviua Faustus, 
jjFO Who led his stately ranks 

From where the apple-blossoms wave 

On Anio's echoing banks, 
And Tullus of Arpinum, 

Chief of the Volscian aids, 
OT5 And Metius with the long fair curls, 

The love of Anxur's maids. 
And the white head of Vulso, 

The great Arician seer. 
And Nepos of Laurentum, 
930 The hunter of the deer ; 
And in the back false Sextus 

Felt the good Roman steel, 
And wriggling in the dust he died, 

Like a worm beneath the wheel. 
(^ And fliers and pursuers 

Were mingled in a mass, 
And far away the battle 

Went roaring through the pass* 



70 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

37 

Sempronius Atratinus 
690 Sate in the Eastern Gate, 
Beside him were three Fathers, 

Each in his chair of state ; 

Fabius, whose nine stout grandsons 

That day were in the field, 

696 And Manlius, eldest of the Twelve 

Who kept the Golden Shield ; 

^nd Sergius, the High Pontiff, 

For wisdom far renowned ; 
In all Etruria's colleges 
?oo Was no such Pontiff found. 
And ail around the portal, 

And high above the wall. 
Stood a great throng of people, 
But sad and silent all ; 
Tfls Young lads, and stooping elders 
That might not bear the mail, 
Matrons with lips that quivered, 

And maids with faces pale. 
Since the first gleam of daylight, 
no Sempronius had not ceased 
To listen for the rushing 

Of horse-hoofs from the east. 
The mist of eve was rising, 
The sun was hastening down, 
715 When he was aware of a princely pair 
Fast pricking towards the town. 
So like they were, man never 

695. The Twelve were the Patrician custodians of the Golden Shield and ita 
eleven imitations, for eleven others were made, it was said, to reduce the 
chances of theft 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE RE GILL US, 71 

Saw twins so like before ; 
Red with gore their armor was, 
720 Their steeds were red with gore. 

38 

" Hail to the great Asylum ! 

Hail to the hill-tops seven ! 
Hail to the fire that burns for aye, 

And the shield that fell from heaven ! 
190 This day, by Lake Regillus, 

Under the Porcian height. 
All in the lands of Tusculura 

Was fought a glorious fight ; 
To-morrow your Dictator 
730 Shall bring in triumph home 
The spoils of thirty cities 

To deck the shrines of Rome ! " 

"39 

Then burst from that great concourse 

A shout that shook the towers, 
73B And some ran north, and some ran south, 

Crying, " The day is ours ! " 
But on rode these strange horsemen, 

With slow and lordly pace ; 
And none who saw their bearing 
wo Durst ask their name or race. 
On rode they to the Forum, 

While laurel-boughs and flowers. 
From house-tops and from windows, 

Fell on their crests in showers. 

721. The great Asylum, for Romulus was said to promise a refuge in bis ne* 
iity to all fugitives. 



72 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

T45 When they drew nigh to Vesta, 
They vaulted down amain, 
And washed their horses in the well 

That springs by Vesta's fane. 
And straight again they mounted, 
760 And rode to Vesta's door ; 

Then, like a blast, away they passed. 
And no man saw them more. 

40 

And all the people trembled, 

And pale grew every cheek ; 
755 And Serglus the High Pontiff 

Alone found voice to speak: 
" The gods who live forever 

Have fought for Rome to-day ! 
These be the Great Twin Brethren 
?6o To whom the Dorians pray. 
Back comes the Chief in triumph 

Who, in the hour of fight, 
Hath seen the Great Twin Brethren 

In harness on his right. 
765 Safe comes the ship to haven, 

Through billows and through gales, 
If once the Great Twin Brethren 

Sit shining on the sails. 
Wherefore they washed their horses 
770 In Vesta's holy well, 

Wherefore they rode to Vesta's door, 

I know, but may not tell. 
Here, hard by Vesta's Temple, 

Build we a stately dome 

760. The Dorians were one of the foremost tribes of the Greek race. 



BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. 73 

776 Unto the Great Twin Brethren 
Who fought so well for Rome. 
And when the months returning 
Bring back this day of fight, 
The proud Ides of Quintilis, 
"fso Marked evermore with white, 
Unto the Great Twin Brethren 

Let all the people throng, 
With chaplets and with offerings. 
With music and with song ; 
188 And let the doors and windows 
Be hung with garlands all, 
And let the Knights be summoned 

To Mars without the wall. 
Thence let them ride in purple 
190 With joyous trumpet-sound. 
Each mounted on his war-horse, 
And each with olive crowned ; 
And pass in solemn order 
Before the sacred dome, 
m Where dwell the Great Twin Brethren 
Who fought so well for Rome I '* 



VIRGINIA. 

A COLLECTION" consisting exclusively of war-songs 
vrould give an imperfect, or rather an erroneous, notion 
of the spirit of the old Latin ballads. The Patricians, 
during more than a century after the expulsion of 
the Kings, held all the high military commands. A 
Plebeian, even though, like Lucius Siccius, he were dis- 
tinguished by his valor and knowledge of war, could 
serve only in subordinate posts. A minstrel, therefore, 
who wished to celebrate the early triumphs of his coun- 
try, could hardly take any but Patricians for his heroes. 
The warriors who are mentioned in the two preceding 
lays — Horatius, Lartius, Herminius, Aulus Posthu- 
mius, ^butius Elva, Sempronius Atratinus, Valerius 
Poplicola — were all members of the dominant order ; 
and a poet who was singing their praises, whatever his 
own political opinions might be, would naturally ab- 
stain from insulting the class to which they belonged, 
and from reflecting on the system which had placed 
such men at the head of the legions of the Common- 
wealth. 

But there was a class of compositions in which the 
great families were by no means so courteously treated. 
No parts of early Roman history are richer with poeti- 
cal coloring than those which relate to the long contest 
between the privileged houses and the commonalty. 
The population of Rome was, from a very early period, 
divided into hereditary castes, which, indeed, readily 



VIRGINIA. '75 

united to repel foreign enemies, but which regarded 
each other, during many years, with bitter animosity. 
, . . Among the grievances under which the Plebeians 
suffered three were felt as peculiaxly severe. They 
were excluded from the highest magistracies ; they were 
excluded from all share in the public lands ; and they 
were ground down to the dust by partial and barbarous 
legislation touching pecuniary contracts. The ruling 
class in Rome was a moneyed class ; and it made and 
administered the laws with a view solely to its own in- 
terest. Thus the relation between lender and borrower 
was mixed up with the relation between sovereign and 
subject. The great men held a large portion of the 
community in dependence by means of advances at 
enormous usury. The law of debt, framed by creditors 
and for the protection of creditors, was the most hor- 
rible that has ever been known among men. The 
liberty, and even the life, of the insolvent were at the 
mercy of the Patrician money-lenders. Children often 
became slaves in consequence of the misfortunes of 
their parents. The debtor was imprisoned, not in a 
public gaol under the care of impartial public function- 
aries, but in a private workhouse belonging to the cred- 
itor. Frightful stories were told respecting these dun- 
geons. It was said that torture and brutal violation 
were common ; that tight stocks, heavy chains, scanty 
measures of food, were used to punish wretches guilty 
of nothing but poverty ; and that brave soldiers, whose 
breasts were covered with honorable scars, were often 
marked still more deeply on the back by the scourges of 
high-born usurers. 

The Plebeians were, however, not wholly without 
constitutional rights. From an early period they had 



76 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

been admitted to some share of political power. They 
were enrolled each in his century, and were allowed a 
share, considerable though not proportioned to their nu- 
merical strength, in the disposal of those high dignities 
from which they were themselves excluded. . . . The 
Plebeians had also the privilege of annually appointing 
ofi&cers, named Tribunes, who had no active share in 
the government of the Commonwealth, but who, by de^ 
grees, acquired a power formidable even to the ablest 
and most resolute Consuls and Dictators. The person 
of the Tribune was inviolable ; and, though he could 
directly effect little, he could obstruct everything. 

During more than a century after the institution of 
the Tribuneship, the Commons struggled manfully for 
the removal of grievances under which they labored ; 
and, in spite of many checks and reverses, succeeded in 
wrin^dns: concession after concession from the stubborn 
aristocracy. At length, in -the year of the city 378, 
both parties mustered their whole strength for their last 
and most desperate conflict. The popular and active 
Tribune, Caius Licinius, proposed the three memorable 
laws which are called by his name, and which were in- 
tended to redress the three great evils of which the 
Plebeians complained. He was supported with eminent 
ability and firmness by his colleague, Lucius Sextius. 
The struggle appears to have been the fiercest that ever 
in any community terminated without an appeal to arms. 
If such a contest had raged in any Greek city, the 
streets would have run with blood. But, even in the 
paroxysms of faction, the Roman retained his gravity, 
his respect for law, and his tenderness for the lives of 
his fellow-citizens. Year after year, Licinius and Sex- 
tius were reelected Tribunes. Year after year, if the 



. VIRGINIA. 77 

narrative which has come down to us is to be trusted, 
they continued to exert to the full extent their power of 
stopping the whole machine of government. No curule 
magistrates could be chosen ; no military muster could 
be held. We know too little of the state of Rome in 
those days to be able to conjecture how, during that 
long anarchy, the peace was kept and ordinary justice 
administered between man and man. The animosity of 
both parties rose to the greatest height. The excite- 
ment, we may well suppose, would have been particularly 
intense at the annual election of the Tribunes. On 
such occasions there can be little doubt that the great 
families did all that could be done, by threats and 
caresses, to break the union of the Plebeians. That 
union, however, proved indissoluble. At length the 
good cause triumphed. The Licinian laws were carried. 
Lucius Sextius was the first Plebeian Consul, Caius 
Licinius the third. 

The results of this great change were singularly 
happy and glorious. Two centuries of prosperity, har- 
mony, and victory followed the reconciliation of the 
orders. Men who remembered Rome engaged in wag- 
ing petty wars almost within sight of the Capitol lived 
to see her the mistress of Italy. While the disabilities 
of the Plebeians continued, she was hardly able to 
maintain her ground against the Volscians and Herni- 
cans. When those disabilities were removed, she rap- 
idly became more than a match for Carthage and Mace- 
don. 

During the great Licinian contest the Plebeian poets 
were, doubtless, not silent. . . . These minstrels, as 
Niebuhr has remarked, appear to have generally taken 
the popular side. We can hardly be mistaken in sup 



78 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

posing that, at the great crisis of the civil conflict, they 
employed themselves in versifying all the most powerful 
and virulent speeches of the Tribunes, and in heaping 
abuse on the leaders of the aristocracy. Every jjersona] 
defect, every domestic scandal, every tradition dishon- 
orable to a noble house, would be sought out, brought 
into notice, and exaggerated. The illustrious head of 
the aristocratical i^arty, Marcus Furius Camillus, might 
perhaps be, in some measure, protected by his venerable 
age, and by the memory of his great services to the 
state. But Appius Claudius Crassus enjoyed no such 
immunity. He was descended from a long line of an- 
cestors distinguished by their haughty demeanor, and 
by the inflexibility with which they had withstood all 
the demands of the Plebeian order. While the political 
conduct and the deportment of the Claudian nobles drew 
upon them the fiercest public hatred, they were accused 
of wanting, if any credit is due to the early history of 
Rome, a class of qualities which, in the military common- 
wealth, is sufficient to cover a multitude of olfences. The 
chief of the family appear to have been eloquent, versed 
in civil business, and learned after the fashion of their 
age ; but in war they were not distinguished by skill or 
valor. Some of them, as if conscious where their weak- 
ness lay, had, when filling the highest magistracies, taken 
internal administration as their department of public busi- 
ness, and left the military command to their colleagues. 
One of them had been intrusted with an army, and had 
failed ignominiously. None of them had been honored 
with a triumph. None of them had achieved any mar- 
tial exploit, such as those by which Lucius Quinctius 
Cincinnatus, Titus Quinctius Capitolinus, Aulus Cornelius 
Cossus, and, above all, the great Camillus, had extorted 



VIRGINIA. 79 

the reluctant esteem of the multitude. During the Licin* 
ian conflict, Appius Claudius Crassus signalized himself 
by the ability and severity with which he harangued 
against the two great agitators. He would naturally, 
therefore, be the favorite mark of the Plebeian sat- 
irists ; nor would they have been at a loss to find a point 
on which he was open to attack. 

His grandfather, called, like himself, Appius Clau- 
dius, had left a name as much detested as that of Sextus 
Tarquinius. He had been Consul more than seventy 
years before the introduction of the Licinian laws. By 
availing himself of a singular crisis in public feeling, he 
had obtained the consent of the Commons to the aboli- 
tion of the Tribuneship, and had been chief of that 
Council of Ten to which the whole direction of the 
state had been committed. In a few months his admin- 
istration had become universally odious. It was swept 
away by an irresistible outbreak of popular fury, and its 
memory was still held in abhorrence by the whole city. 
The immediate cause of the downfall of this execrable 
government was said to have been an attempt made by 
Appius Claudius to get possession of a beautiful young 
girl of humble birth. The story ran that the Decemvir, 
unable to succeed by bribes and solicitations, resorted to 
an outrageous act of tyranny. A vile dependent of 
the Claudian house laid claim to the damsel as his slave. 
The cause was brought before the tribunal of Appius. 
The wicked magistrate, in defiance of the clearest 
proofs, gave judgment for the claimant. But the girl's 
father, a brave soldier, saved her from servitude and 
dishonor by stabbing her to the heart in the sight of the 
whole Forum. That blow was the signal for a general 
explosion. Camp and city rose at once ,• the Ten were 



80 LAYS OF ANCIENT HOME. 

pulled down ; the Tribuneship was reestablished ; and 
Appius escaped the hands of the executioner only by a 
voluntary death. 

It can hardly be doubted that a story so admirably 
adapted to the purposes both of the poet and of the 
demagogue would be eagerly seized upon by minstrels 
burning with hatred against the Patrician order, against 
the Claudian house, and especially against the grandson 
and namesake of the infamous Decemvir. 

In order that the reader may judge fairly of these 
fragments of the lay of Virginia, he must imagine him- 
self a Plebeian who has just voted for the reelection of 
Sextius and Licinius. All the power of the Patricians 
has been exerted to throw out the two great champions 
of the Commons. Every Posthumius, ^milius, and 
Cornelius has used his influence to the utmost. Debtors 
have been let out of the workhouses on condition of 
voting against the men of the people ; clients have been 
posted to hiss and interrupt the favorite candidates ; 
Appius Claudius Crassus has spoken with more than his 
usual eloquence and asperity : all has been in vain ; 
Licinius and Sextius have a fifth time carried all the 
tribes ; work is suspended ; the booths are closed ; the 
Plebeians bear oi\ their shoulders the two champions of 
liberty through the Forum. Just at this moment it is 
announced that a popular poet, a zealous adherent of 
the Tribunes, has made a new song which will cut the 
Claudian nobles to the heart. The crowd gathers round 
him, and calls on him to recite it. He takes his stand 
on the spot where, according to tradition, Virginia, 
more than seventy years ago, was seized by the pander 
of Appius, and begins his story. 

[Macaulay calls this lay " fragments of a lay," and 



VIRGINIA. 81 

the . . . which indicate breaks in the story are his, and 
not the editor's. The poem is given just as Macaulay 
wrote it.] 



VIRGINIA. 

FRAGMENTS OF A LAY SUNG IN THE FORUM OIS^ THE 
DAY WHEREON LUCIUS SEXTIUS SEXTINUS LATERANUS 
AND CAIUS LICINIUS CALVUS STOLO WERE ELECTED 
TRIBUNES OF THE COMMONS THE FIFTH TIME, IN 
THE YEAR OF THE CITY CCCLXXXII. 

Ye good men of the Commons, with loving hearts 

and true. 
Who stand by the bold Tribunes that still have 

stood by you, 
Come, make a circle round me, and mark my tale 

with care, 
A tale of what Rome once hath borne, of what 

Rome yet may bear. 
6 This is no Grecian fable, of fountains running 

wine, 
Of maids with snaky tresses, or sailors turned to 

swine. 
Here, in this very Forum, under the noonday sun, 
In sight of all the people, the bloody deed was 

done. 



5. One of the Homeric hymns sings of a purple stream of wine running 
along the decks of a ship on which the god Bacchus was confined. 

6. See the fable of the Gorgons and the Homeric tale cf Circe's enchanfc 
Uiient, 



82 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

Old men still creep among us who saw that fearful 
day, 
10 Just seventy years and seven ago, when the wicked 
Ten bare sway. 

Of all the wicked Ten still the names are held 

accursed, 
And of all the wicked Ten Appius Claudius was 

the worst. 
He stalked along the Forum like King Tarquin in 

his pride ; 
Twelve axes waited on him, six marching on a 

side ; 
16 The townsmen shrank to right and left, and eyed 

askance with fear 
His lowering brow, his curling mouth, which always 

seemed to sneer : 
That brow of hate, that mouth of scorn, marks all 

the kindred still ; 
For never was there Claudius yet but wished the 

Commons ill ; 
Nor lacks he fit attendance ; for close behind his 

heels, 
20 With outstretched chin and crouching pace, the 

client Marcus steals. 
His loins girt up to run with speed, be the errand 

what it may. 
And the smile flickering on his cheek, for aught his 

lord may say. 

10. Th8 decemvirs, when first appointed to draw up a new code of laws and 
*o perform the duties of magistrates, were acceptable to the people, but 
when firmly seated in power became tyrannical. 

18. The Commons. By this familiar Englisa term Macaulay renders the 
Xjatin plebs. 



VIRGINIA. 83 

Such varlets pimp and jest for hire among the lying 

Greeks : 
Such varlets still are paid to hoot when brave Li- 

cinius speaks. 
3s Where'er ye shed the honey, the buzzing flies will 

crowd ; 
Where'er ye fling the carrion, the raven's croak 

is loud ; 
Where'er down Tiber garbage floats, the greedy 

pike ye see ; 
And wheresoe'er such lord is found, such client 

still will be. 

Just then, as through one cloudless chink in a 

black stormy sky, 
30 Shines out the dewy morning - star, a fair young 

girl came by. 
With her small tablets in her hand, and her satchel 

on her arm. 
Home she went bounding from the school, nor 

dreamed of shame or harm ; 
And past those dreaded axes she innocently ran, 
With bright, frank brow that had not learned to 

blush at gaze of man ; 
35 And up the Sacred Street she turned, and, as she 

danced along. 
She warbled gayly to herself lines of the good old 

song. 
How for a sport the princes came spurring from 

the camp, 

24. Licinius was one of the first Tribunes of the people. 
31. The tablets were wax tablets, and served the same purpose as slates now 
•days. 
35. The Sacred Street was the Via Sacra leading to the Forum. 



84 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

And found Lucrece, combing the fleece, under the 

midnight lamp. 
The maiden sang as sings the lark, when up be 

darts his flight, 
40 From his nest in the green April corn, to meet the 

morning light ; 
And Apjiius heard her sweet young voice, and saw 

her sweet young face, 
And loved her with the accursed love of his ac- 
cursed race, 
And all along the Forum, and up the Sacred 

Street, 
His vulture eye pursued the trip . of those small 

glancing feet. 



45 Over the Alban mountains the light of morning 

broke ; 
From all the roofs of the Seven Hills curled the 

thin wreaths of smoke. 
The city-gates were opened ; the Forum all alive, 
With buyers and with sellers was humming like a 

hive. 
Blithely on brass and timber the craftsman's stroke 

was ringing, 
50 And blithely o'er her panniers the market-girl was 

singing, 
And blithely young Virginia came smiling from hei 

home : 

38. There had been a wager among the princes of Rome, when round thei 
uamp-fire outside of the city, as to which of their wives was most loyal, and they 
rode into the city at midnight to find all engaged in feasting save Lucrece, who 
inrast spinning in the midst of her maids. 



VIRGINIA. So 

Ah ! woe for young Virginia, the sweetest maid in 

Rome ! 
With her small tablets in her hand, and her satchel 

on her arm. 
Forth she went bounding to the school, nor dreamed 

of shame or harm. 
j5 She crossed the Forum shining with stalls in alleys 
^ gay. 
And just had reached the very spot whereon I 

stand this day, 
When up the varlet Marcus came ; not such as 

when erewhile 
He crouched behind his patron's heels with the 

true client smile : 
He came with lowering forehead, swollen features, 

and clenched fist, 
so And strode across Virginia's path, and caught her 

by the wrist. 
Hard strove the frighted maiden, and screamed 

with look aghast ; 
And at her scream from right and left the folk 

came running fast ; 
The money-changer Crispus, with his thin silver 

hairs, 
And Hanno from the stately booth glittering with 

Punic wares, 
65 And the strong smith Mursena, grasping a half- 
forged brand. 
And Volero the flesher, his cleaver in his hand. 
All came in wrath and wonder ; for all knew that 

fair child ; 

64 Punic ivares, i. e., merchandise brought from Carthage. Hanno itsell 
J a Carthaginian name. 



86 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

And, as she passed them twice a day, all kissed 

their hands and smiled ; 
And the strong smith Muraena gave Marcus such ? 

blow, 
te The caitiff reeled three paces back, and let the 

maiden go. 
. Yet glared he fiercely round him, and growled in 

harsh, fell tone, 
" She 's mine, and I will have her : I seek but for 

mine own : 
She is my slave, born in my house, and stolen away 

and sold. 
The year of the sore sickness, ere she was twelve 

hours old. 
?B 'T was in the sad September, the month of wai? 

a»d fright, 
Two augurs were borne forth that morn ; the Con- 
sul died ere night. 
I wait on Appius Claudius, I waited on his sire ; 
Let him who works the client wrong beware the 

patron's ire ! '* 

So spake the varlet Marcus ; and dread and 

silence came 
10 On all the people at the sound of the great Clau- 

dian name. 
For then there was no Tribune to speak the word 

of might. 
Which makes the rich man tremble, and guards 

the poor man's right, 
rhere was no brave Licinius, no honest Sextius 

then ; 



VIRGINIA, 87 

But all the city, in great fear, obeyed the wicked 

Ten. 
85 Yet ere the varlet Marcus again might seize the 

maid, 
Who clung tight to Mursena's skirt, and sobbed and 

shrieked for aid. 
Forth through the throng of gazers the young Icil- 

ius pressed, 
And stamped his foot, and rent his gown, and 

smote upon his breast, 
And sprang upon that column, by many a minstrel 

sung, 
JO Whereon three mouldering helmets, three rusting 

swords, are hung. 
And beckoned to the people, and in bold voice and 

clear 
Poured thick and fast the burning words which ty- 
rants quake to hear. 

*' Now, by your children's cradles, now by your 
fathers' graves. 
Be men to-day, Quirites, or be forever slaves ! 
95 For this did Servius give us laws ? For this did 
Lucrece bleed ? 
For this was the great vengeance wrought on Tar- 

quin's evil seed ? 
For this did those faJse sons make red the axes of 
their sire ? 



95. Servius was the King Servius Tullius under whose '•"'■^ the Romanf 
svere organized into a military community. 

97. The false sons were the two sons of Brutrs, one of the consuls elected 
after the expulsion of Tarquin. They were beheaded at the order of theiJ 
father for conspiring to restore the tyrant. 



88 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

For this did Scaevola's right hand hiss in the Tus« 

can fire ? 
Shall the vile fox-earth awe the race that stormed 

the lion's den ? 
/oe Shall we, who could not hrook one lord, crouch to 

the wicked Ten ? 
Oh for that ancient spirit which curbed the Senate's 

will ! 
Oh for the tents which in old time whitened the 

Sacred Hill I 
In those brave days our fathers stood firmly side 

by side ; 
They faced the Marcian fury ; they tamed the Fa 

bian pride ; 
106 They drove the fiercest Quinctius an outcast forth 

from Rome; 
They sent the haughtiest Claudius with shivered 

fasces home. 
But what their care bequeathed us our madness 

flung away : 

98. Mucins Scfevola, bent on murdering Lars Porsena, contrived to get en* 
irance to the Tuscan camp. He murdered the wrong man by mistake, and oi» 
being discovered thrust his hand into the fire to show that he cared nothing 
for torture, and then declared that he had 300 companions as brave as he. 
This display of courage induced the Etruscan chief to make overtures of 
peace to the Romans. 

102. That 's, when the Plebs withdrew from Rome until their demands 
were granted and Tribunes appointed. 

104. Caius Marcius, a young Patrician, better knoMvn as Coriolanus, waa 
banished from Rome, and taking service with the Volscians reduced his coun- 
trymen to extremities. The Fabian pride refers to the action of the troopa 
of C'eso Fabius when they refused to storm the camp of the enemy, and so, 
by leaving the victory incomplete, deprived the general of his triumph. 

105. Quinctius Cincinnatus was an opponent of the Plebs, and was banished 
by that party. 

lOfi. Appius Claudius, head of the Patrician gens of the name, was so harsh 
n lii» treatment of the people that he brought down on himself mob-treat. 
aent. 



VIRGINIA. 89 

All the ripe fruit of threescore years was blighted 
in a day. 

Exalt, ye proud Patricians ! The hard-fought fight 
is o'er. 
110 We strove for honors — 't was in vain ; for free- 
dom — 't is no more. 

No crier to the polling summons the eager throng ; 

No Tribune breathes the word of might that guards 
the weak from wrong. 

Our very hearts, that were so high, sink down be- 
neath your will. 

Riches, and lands, and power, and state — ye have 
them : — keep them still, 
lie Still keep the holy fillets ; still keep the purple 
gown. 

The axes, and the curule chair, the car, and laurel 
crown : 

Still press us for your cohorts, and, when the fight 
is done, 

Still fill your garners from the soil which our good 
swords have won. 

Still, like a spreading nicer, which leech-craft may 
not cure, 
120 Let your foul usance eat away the substance of the 
poor. 

115. The holy fillets were worn by the priestly class, which was strictly Pa> 
trician ; the purple gown was worn by the consul and knights on public occff- 
sions. 

116. The curule chair was the chair of state. It is represented often in 
modern statuary, as in the statue of Lincoln in Chicago. The consuls used a 
car or chariot in the triumphal processions after a war, and wore a wreath or 
garland of laurel. 

117. There were ten cohorts in every Roman legion, but the number of men 
in a legion varied. 

120. One of the greatest grievances of the Plebeians lay in the usury prac- 
ticed by the Patricians, and the cruelty of the laws regarding debt. 



90 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME, 

% 
Still let your haggard debtors bear all their fathers 

bore ; 
Still let your dens of torment be noisome as of 

yore ; 
No fire when Tiber freezes; no air in dogstar 

heat; 
And store of rods for free-born backs, and holes 

for free-born feet. 
126 Heap heavier still the fetters ; bar closer still the 

grate ; 
Patient as sheep we yield us up unto your cruel 

hate. 
But, by the Shades beneath us, and by the gods 

above, 
Add not unto your cruel hate your yet more cruel 

love ! 
Have ye not graceful ladies, whose spotless lineage 

springs 
130 From Consuls, and High Pontiffs, and ancient Al- 

ban kings ? 
Ladies, who deign not on our paths to set their ten- 
der feet, 
Who from their cars look down with scorn upon 

the wondering street. 
Who in Corinthian mirrors their own proud smiles 

behold. 
And breathe of Capuan odors, and shine with Span- 
ish gold ? 
135 Then leave the poor Plebeian his single tie to 

life — 
The sweet, sweet love of daughter, of sister, aiiG 

of wife, 

133. Corinth, in Greece, was famous for its luxurious living. 



VIRGINIA. 91 

The gentle speech, the balm for all that his vexed 

soul endures, 
The kiss, in which he half forgets even such a yoke 

as yours. 
Still let the maiden's beauty swell the father's 

breast with pride ; 
140 Still let the bridegroom's arms infold an unpolluted 

bride. 
Spare us the inexpiable wrong, the unutterable 

shame. 
That turns the coward's heart to steel, the slug- 
gard's blood to flame. 
Lest, when our latest hope is fled, ye taste of our 

despair. 
And learn by proof, in some wild hour, how much 

the wretched dare." 



146 Straightway Virginius led the maid a little space 
aside, 

To where the reeking shambles stood, piled up with 
horn and hide, 

Close to yon low dark archway, where, in a crim- 
son flood. 

Leaps down to the great sewer the gurgling stream 
of blood. 

Hard by, a flesher on a block had laid his whittle 
down ; 
150 Virginius caught the whittle up, and hid it in his 
gown. 

Aad then his eyes grew very dim, and his throat 
began to swell, 

And in a hoarse, changed voice he spake, " Fare- 
well, sweet child ! Farewell ! 



92 LA YS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

Oh, how I loved my darling! Though stern 1 

sometimes be, 
To thee, thou know'st I was not so. Who could be 

so to thee ? 
I6t And how my darling loved me ! How glad she 

was to hear 
My footstep on the threshold when I came back 

last year ! 
And how she danced witli pleasure to see my civic 

crown, 
And took my sword, and hung it up, and brought 

me forth my gown ! 
Now all those things are over, — yes, all thy pretty 

ways, 
160 Thy needlework, thy prattle, thy snatches of old 

lays; 
And none will grieve when I go forth, or smile 

when I return, 
Or watch beside the old man's bed, or weep upon 

his urn. 
The house that was the happiest within the Roman 

walls. 
The house that envied not the wealth of Capua's 

marble halls, 
165 Now, for the brightness of thy smile, must have 

eternal gloom, 
And for the music of thy voice, the silence of the 

tomb. 
The time is come. See how he points his eager 

hand this way ! 

ji57. The civic crQirn oi oak leaves was conferred on a soldier wlio had 
luved a comrade in battle by killing his opponent. 
168. The gown or toga was the mark of the Roman citizen. 



VIRGINIA. 93 

See how his eyes gloat on thy grief, like a kite's 
upon the prey ! 

With all his wit, he little deems that, sj^urned, be- 
trayed, bereft, 
170 Thy father hath in his despair one fearful refuge 
left. 

He little deems that in this hand I clutch what still 
can save 

Thy gentle youth from taunts and blows, the por- 
tion of the slave ; 

Yea, and from nameless evil, that passeth taunt 
and blow, — 

Foul outrage which thou knowest not, which thou 
shalt never know. 
Mb Then clasp me round the neck once more, and give 
me one more kiss ; 

And now, mine own dear little girl, there is no way 
but this." 

With that he lifted high the steel, and smote her in 
the side, 

And in her blood she sank to earth, and with one 
sob she died. 

Then, for a little moment, all people held their 

breath ; 
180 And through the crowded Forum was stillness as 

of death ; 
And in another moment brake forth from one 

and all 
A cry as if the Volscians were coming o'er the 

wall. 
Some with averted faces shrieking fled hom^ 

amain ; 



94 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

Some ran to call a leech ; and some ran to lift the 

slain ; 
185 Some felt her lips and little wrist, if life might 

there be found ; 
And some tore up their garments fast, and strove 

to stanch the wound. 
In vain they ran, and felt, and stanched, for never 

truer blow 
That good right arm had dealt in fight against a 
Volscian foe. 

When Appius Claudius saw that deed, he shud- 
dered and sank down, 
iflo And hid his face some little space with the corner 

of his gown, 
Till, with white lips and bloodshot eyes, Virginius 

tottered nigh, 
And stood before the judgment-seat, and held the 

knife on high. 
" O dwellers in the nether gloom, avengers of the 

slain. 
By this dear blood I cry to you, do right between 
us twain ; 
195 And even as Appius Claudius hath dealt by me 

and mine, 
Deal you by Appius Claudius and all the Claudian 

line"! " 
Sc spake the slayer of his child, and turned, and 

went his way ; 
But first he cast one haggard glance to where the 

body lay. 
And writhed, and groaned a fearful groan, and 

then, with steadfast feet. 



VIRGINIA. 95 

200 Strode right across the market-place unto the Sa- 
cred Street. 



Then uj3 sprang Appius Claudius : " Stop him, 

alive or dead ! 
Ten thousand pounds of copper to the man who 

brings his head ! " 
He looked upon his clients ; but none would work 

his will. 
He looked upon his lictors ; but they trembled and 

stood still. 
205 And, as Virginius through the press his way in 
silence cleft, 
Ever the mighty multitude fell back to right and 

left. 
And he hath passed in safety unto his woful 

home, 
And there ta'en horse to tell the camp what deeds 

are done in Rome. 

By this the flood of people was swollen from 
every side, 
210 And streets and porches round were filled with 
that o'erflowing tide ; 
And close around the body gathered a little train 
Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the 

slain. 
They brought a bier, and hung it with many a 

cypress crown, 
And gently they uplifted her, and gently kid her 
down. 
316 The face of Appius Claudius wore the Claudiao 
scowl and sneer. 



96 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

And in the Claiidian note he cried, " What doth 

this rabble here ? 
Have they no crafts to mind at home, that hither- 
ward they stray ? 
Ho ! lictors, clear the market-place, and fetch the 

corpse away ! " 
The voice of grief and fury till then had not been 

loud ; 
520 But a deep sullen murmur wandered among t- ', 

crowd, 
Like the moaning noise that goes before the /uirl- 

wind on the deep, 
Or the growl of a fierce watch-dog but 1 -^-f aroused 

from sleep. 
But when the lictors at that word, al yeomen all 

and strong, 
Each with his axe and sheaf o' twigs, went down 

into the throng, 
,25 Those old men say, who saw that day of sorrow 

and of sin. 
That in the Roman Forum was never such a din. 
The wailing, hooting, cursing, the howls of grief 

and hate. 
Were heard beyond the Pincian Hill, beyond the 

Latin Gate. 
But close around the body, where stood the little train 
30 Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the 

slain, 
No cries were there, but teeth set fast, low whis- 
pers and black frowns, 
And breaking up of benches, and girding up of 

gowns ; 
T was well the lictors might not pierce to where 

the maiden lay. 



VIRGINIA. 97 

Else surely had they been all twelve torn limb from 

limb that day. 
I3S Right glad they were to struggle back, blood stream- 
ing from their heads, 
With axes all in splinters, and raiment all in 

shreds. 
Then Appius Claudius gnawed his lip and the 

blood left his cheek ; 
And thrice he beckoned with his hand, and thrice 

he strove to speak ; 
And thrice the tossing Forum set up a frightful 

yell: 
240 " See, see, thou dog ! what thou hast done ; and 

hide thy shame in hell ! 
Thou that wouldst make our maidens slaves must 

first make slaves of men. 
Tribunes ! Hurrah for Tribunes ! Down with the 

wicked Ten ! " * 
And straightway, thick as hailstones, came whiz- 
zing through the air 
Pebbles, and bricks, and potsherds, all round the 

curule chair ; 
245 And upon Appius Claudius great fear and trem* 

bling came ; 
For never was a Claudius yet brave against aught 

but shame. 
Though the great houses love us not, we own, to do 

them right. 
That the great houses, all save one, have borne 

them well in fight. 
Still Caius of Corioli, his triumphs and his wrongs, 

243. Caius of Corioli. Coriolanus took his name from the town he ha3 
conquered. See note to line 104 



98 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

2B0 His vengeance and his mercy, live in our camp-fire 

songs. 
Beneath the yoke of Furius oft have Gaul and 

Tuscan bowed ; 
And Rome may bear the pride of him of whom 

herself is proud. 
.But evermore a Claudius shrinks from a stricken 

field, 
And changes color like a maid at sight of sword 

and shield. 
165 llie Claudian triumphs all were won within the 

city towers ; 
The Claudian yoke was n^ver pressed on any necks 

but ours. 
A Cossus, like a wild - cat, sj^rings ever at the 

face ; 
A Fabius rushes like a boar against the shouting 

chase ; 
But the vile Claudian litter, raging with currish 

spite, 
iteo Still yelps and snaps at those who run, still runs 

from those who smite. 
So now 't was seen of Appius. When stones be- 
gan to fly, 
He shook, and crouched, and wrung his hands, and 

smote upon his thigh. 
" Kind clients, honest hctors, stand by me in this 

fray ! 
Must I be torn in pieces ? Home, home, the near- 
est way ! " 

251. Marcus Furius Camillus of Tusculum delivered Rome from the Gaula 

257. Cosstis was the surname of a house belonging to the gens Cornelia. 

258. The Fabian gens was noted for its bravery. 



VIRGINIA. 99 

265 While yet he spake, and looked around with a be- 
wildered stare, 
Four sturdy lictors put their necks beneath the 

curule chair ; 
And fourscore clients on the left, and fourscore on 

the right, 
Arrayed themselves with swords and staves, and 

loins girt up for fight. 
But, though without or staff or sword, so furious 

was the throng, 
270 That scarce the train with might and main could 

bring their lord along. 
Twelve times the crowd made at him ; five times 

they seized his gown ; 
Small chance was his to rise again, if or.ce they got 

him down. 
And sharper came the pelting ; and evermore the 

yell- 
" Tribunes ! we will have Tribunes ! " rose wdth a 

louder swell. 
275 And the chair tossed as tosses a bark with tat- 
tered sail 
When raves the Adriatic beneath an eastern gale, 
When the Calabrian sea-marks are lost in clouds of 

spume, 
And the great Thunder Cape has donned his veil of 

inky gloom. 
One stone hit Appius in the mouth, and one beneath 

the ear ; 
280 And ere he reached Mount Palatine, he swooned 

with pain and fear. 

278. The Thunder Cape was a region of volcanic fire on the eastern 
coast oi the Adriatic, facing the modern Brindisi. 



100 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

His cursed head, that he was wont to hold so high 

with pride, 
Now, like a drunken man's, hung down, and swayed 

from side to side ; 
And when his stout retainers had brought him to 

his door, 
His face and neck were all one cake of filth and 

clotted gore. 
285 As Appius Claudius was that day, so may his 

grandson be ! 
God send Rome one such other sight, and send me 

there to see ! 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS. 

It can hardly be necessary to remind any reader that, 
according to the popular tradition, Romulus, after he 
had slain his grand-uncle, Amulius, and restored his 
grandfather Numitor, determined to quit Alba, the he- 
reditary domain of the Sylvian princes, and to found a 
new city. The gods, it was added, vouchsafed the clear- 
est signs of the favor with which they regarded the en- 
terprise, and of the high destinies reserved for the young 
colony. 

This event was likely to be a favorite theme of the old 
Latin minstrels. They would naturally attribute the 
project of Romulus to some divine intimation of the 
power and prosperity which it was decreed that his city 
should attain. They would probably introduce seers fore- 
telling the victories of unborn consuls and dictators, 
and the last great victory would generally occupy the 
most conspicuous place in the prediction. There is 
nothing strange in the supposition that the poet who was 
employed to celebrate the first great triumph of the Ro- 
mans over the Greeks might throw his song of exulta- 
tion into this form. 

The occasion was one likely to excite the strongest 
feelings of national pride. A great outrage had been 
followed by a great retribution. Seven years before this 
time, Lucius Posthumius Megellus, who sprang from 
one of the noblest houses of Rome, and had been thrice 
Consul, was sent ambassador to Tarentum, with charge 



102 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

to demand reparation for grievous injuries. The Taren. 
tines gave hira audience in their theatre, where he ad- 
dressed them in such Greek as he could command, 
which, we may well believe, was not exactly such as 
Cineas would have spoken. An exquisite sense of the 
ridiculous belonged to the Greek character ; and closely 
connected with this faculty was a strong propensity to 
flippancy and impertinence. When Posthumius placed 
an accent wrong, his hearers burst into a laugh. Wlien 
he remonstrated, they hooted him, and called him a bar- 
barian ; and at length hissed him off the stage as if he 
had been a bad actor. As the grave Roman retired, a 
buffoon, who, from his constant drunkenness, was nick- 
named the Pint Pot, came up with gestures of the gross- 
est indecency, and bespattered the senatorial gown with 
filth. Posthumius turned round to the multitude, and 
held up the gown, as if appealing to the universal law 
of nations. The sight only increased the insolence of 
the Tarentines. They clapped their hands, and set up 
a shout of laughter which shook the theatre. " Men of 
Tarentum," said Posthumius, " It will take not a little 
blood to wash this gown." 

Rome, in consequence of this insult, declared war 
against the Tarentines. The Tarentines sought for allies 
beyond the Ionian Sea. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, came 
to their help with a large army ; and, for the first time, 
the two great nations of antiquity were fairly matched 
against each other. 

The fame of Greece in arms, as well as in arts, was 
then at the height. Half a century earlier, the career of 
Alexander had excited the admiration and terror of all 
nations from the Ganges to the Pillars of Hercules. 
Hoyal houses, founded by Macedonian captains, stiU 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS. lOS 

reigned at Antioch and Alexandria. That barbarian 
warriors, led by barbarian chiefs, should win a pitched 
battle against Greek valor guided by Greek science, 
seemed as incredible as it would now seem that the Bur- 
mese or the Siamese should, in the open plain, put to 
flight an equa/ Jiumber of the best English troops. The 
Tarentines were convinced that their countrymen were 
irresistible in war ; and this conviction had emboldened 
them to treat with the grossest indignity one whom they 
regarded as the representative of an inferior race. Of 
the Greek generals then living, Pyrrhus was indisput- 
ably the first. Among the troops who were trained in 
the Greek discipline, his Epirotes ranked high. His 
expedition to Italy was a turning-point in the history of 
the world. He found there a people who, far inferior 
to the Athenians and Corinthians in the fine arts, in the 
speculative sciences, and in all the refinements of life, 
were the best soldiers on the face of the earth. Their 
arms, their gradations of rank, their order of battle, 
tlieir method of intrenchment, were all of Latian origin, 
and had all been gradually brought near to perfection, 
not by the study of foreign models, but by the genius 
and experience of many generations of great native 
commanders. The first words which broke from the 
king, when his practised eye had surveyed the Roman 
encampment, were full of meaning : " These barba- 
rians," he said, " have nothing barbarous in their mili- 
tary arrangements." He was at first victorious ; for his 
own talents were superior to those of the captains who 
were opposed to him ; and the Romans were not pre- 
pared for the onset of the elephants of the East, which 
were then for the first time seen in Italy, — moving 
mountains, with long snakes for hands. But the victo- 



104 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

ries of the Epirotes were fiercely disputed, dearly pur» 
chased, and altogether unprofitable. At length, Manius 
Curius Dentatus, who had in his first consulship won 
two triumphs, was again placed at the head of the Ro* 
man Commonwealth, and sent to encounter the invaders. 
A great battle was fought near Beneventum. Pyrrhus 
was completely defeated. He repassed the sea ; and 
the world learned with amazement that a people had 
been discovered who, in fair fighting, were superior to 
the best troops that had been drilled on the system of 
Parmenio and Antigonus. 

The conquerors had a good right to exult in their suc- 
cess, for their glory was all their own. They had not 
learned from their enemy how to conquer him. It was 
with their own national arms, and in their own national 
battle array, that they had overcome weapons and tac- 
tics long believed to be invincible. The pilum and the 
broadsword had vanquished the Macedonian spear. The 
legion had broken the Macedonian phalanx. Even the 
ele^^hants, when the surprise produced by their first ap 
pearance was over, could cause no disorder in the steady 
yet flexible battalions of Rome. 

It is said by Florus, and may easily be believed, that 
the triumph far surpassed in magnificence any that 
Rome had previously seen. The only spoils which Pa 
pirius Cursor and Fabius Maximus could exhibit were 
flocks and herds, wagons of rude structure, and heaps 
of spears and helmets. But now, for the first time, the 
riches of Asia and the arts of Greece adorned a Roman 
pageant. Plate, fine stuffs, costly furniture, rare ani- 
mals, exquisite paintings and sculptures, formed part 
of the procession. At the banquet would be assembled 
.1 crowd of warriors and statesmen, among whom Ma 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS. 105 

nius Curius Dentatus would take the highest room. 
Caius Fabricius Luscinus, then, after two consulships 
arid two triumjjhs, Censor of the Commonwealth, would 
doubtless occupy a place of honor at the board. In sit- 
uations less conspicuous probably lay some of those whc 
were, a few years later, the terror of Carthage — Caius 
Duilius, the founder of the maritime gTeatness of his 
country ; Marcus Atilius Regulus, who owed to defeat a 
renown far higher than that which he had derived from 
his victories ; and Caius Lutatius Catulus, who, while 
suffering from a grievous wound, fought the great battle 
of the Agates, and brought the First Punic War to 
d, triumphant close. It is impossible to recount the 
names of these eminent citizens, without reflecting that 
they were all, without exception, Plebeians, and would, 
but for the ever-memorable struggle maintained by Caius 
Licinius and Lucius Sextius, have been doomed to hide 
in obscurity, or to waste in civil broils, the capacity and 
energy which prevailed against Pyrrhus and Hamilcar. 

On such a day we may suppose that the patriotic en- 
thusiasm of a Latin poet would vent itself in reiterated 
shouts of " lo Triumphe," such as were uttered by Horace 
on a far less exciting occasion, and in boasts resembling 
those which Virgil, two hundred and fifty years later, 
put into the mouth of Anchises. The superiority of 
some foreign nations, and especially of the Greeks, in 
the lazy arts of peace, would be admitted with disdain^ 
f ul candor ; but preeminence in all the qualities which 
fit a people to subdue and govern mankind would be 
claimed for the Komans. 

The following lay belongs to the latest age of Latin 
ballad-poetry. Nsevius and Livius Andronicus were 
probably among the children whose mothers held them 



106 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

up to see the chariot of Curius go by. The minstrel 
who sang on that day might possibly have lived to read 
the first hexameters of Ennius, and to see the first com- 
edies of Plautus. His poem, as might be expected, 
shows a much wider acquaintance with the geography, 
manners, and productions of remote nations than would 
have been found in compositions of the age of Camillus. 
But he troubles himself little about dates ; and having 
heard travellers talk with admiration of the Colossus of 
Rhodes, and of the structures and gardens with wliich 
the Macedonian kings of Syria had embellished their 
residence on the banks of the Orontes, he has never 
;Ilought of inquiring whether these things existed in the 
di^e of Romulus. 

THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS. 

A. LAY SUNG AT THE BAXQUET IN THE CAPITOL, ON 
THE DAY WHEREON" MANIUS CURIUS DEXTATUS, A 
SECOND TIME CONSUL, TRIUMPHED OVER KING PYR- 
RHUS AND THE TARENTINES, IN THE YEAR OF THE 
CITY CCCCLXXIX. 



Now slain is King Amulius, 

Of the great Sylvian line, 
Who reigned in Alba Longa, 

On the throne of Aventine. 
Slain is the Pontiff Camera, 

Who spake the words of doom! 

6. The words of doom to Rhea Ilia, or Sylvia, the daughter of Numitor, 
whose twin children, Romulus and Remus, were to be thrown into the Tiber, 
vhile the mother was buried ahve. 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS. 101 

" The children to the Tiber •, 
The mother to the tomb/* 

2 

In Alba's lake no fisher 
10 His net to-day is flinging ; 
On the dark rind of Alba's oaks 

To-day no axe is ringing ; 
The yoke hangs o'er the manger; 
The scythe lies in the hay ; 
16 Through all the Alban villages 
No work is done to-day. 



And every Alban burgher 

Hath donned his whitest gown ; 

And every head in Alba 
30 Weareth a poplar crown ; 

And every Alban doorpost 

With boughs and flowers is gay ; 

For to-day the dead are living ; 
The lost are found to-day. 

4 

w They were doomed by a bloody king ; 
They were doomed by a lying priest ; 
They were cast on the raging flood ; 

They were tracked by the raging beast. 
Raging beast and raging flood 
30 Alike have spared the prey ; 
And to-day the dead are living ; 
The lost are found to-day. 



iOb LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

5 

The troubled river knew them, 

And smoothed his yellow foam, 
86 And gently rocked the cradle 

That bore the fate of Rome. 
The ravening she-wolf knew them, 

And licked them o'er and o'er, 
And gave them of her own fierce mUfe, 
40 Rich with raw flesh and gore. 
Twenty winters, twenty springs, 

Since then have rolled away ; 
And to-day the dead are living, 

The lost are found to-day. 

6 

15 Blithe it was to see the twins. 
Right goodly youths and tall. 
Marching from Alba Longa 

To their old grandsire's hall. 
Along their path fresh garlands 
60 Are hung from tree to tree ; 
Before them stride the pipers. 
Piping a note of glee. 

7 

On the right goes Romulus, 
With arms to the elbows red,, 
-fi And in his hand a broadsword. 
And on the blade a head, — 

A head in an iron helmet, 

With horse-hair hanging down, 

A shaggy head, a swarthy head. 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS. 109 

30 Fixed in a ghastly frown, — 
The head of King Amulius 

Of the great Sylvian line, 
Who reigned in Alba Longa, 

On the throne of Aventine. 

8 

98 On the left side goes Remus, 
With wrists and fingers red, 
And in his hand a boar-spear, 
And on the point a head, — • 
A wrinkled head and aged, 
30 With silver beard and hair, 
And holy fillets round it. 

Such as the pontiffs wear, — 
The head of ancient Gamers, 
Who spake the .words of doom: 
« " The children to the Tiber ; 
The mother to the tomb." 

9 

Two and two behind the twins 

Their trusty comrades go, 
Four-and-forty valiant men, 
80 With club, and axe, and bow. 
On each side every hamlet 

Pours forth its joyous crowd, 
Shouting lads and baying dogs 

And children laughing loud, 
80 And old men weeping fondly 

As Rhea's boys go by. 
And maids who shriek to see the heads. 

Yet, shrieking, press more nigh. 



110 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

10 
So they marched along the lake ♦, 
90 They marched by fold and staE, 
By cornfield and by vineyard, 
Unto the old man's hall. 

11 

In the hall-gate sate Capys, 
Capys, the sightless seer ; 
96 From liead to foot he trembled 
As Romulus drew near. 
And up stood stiff his thin white hair, 

And his blind eyes flashed fire : 
*'HailI foster-child of the wondrous nurse? 
ioo Hail ! son of the wondrous sire I 

12 

" But thou, — what dost thou here 

In the old man's peaceful hall ? 
"What doth the eagle in the coop, 

The bison in the stall ? 
los Our corn fills many a garner ; 

Our vines clasp many a tree ; 
Our flocks are white on many a hili ; 

But these are not for thee» 

13 

" For thee no treasure ripens 
no In the Tartessian mine : 

For thee no ship brings precious bales 

100. The god Mars was assumed to be the father of Romulus aud Bemua 
110. The Tartessian mine was the Tarshisk of the Bible. 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS. HI 

Across the Libyan brine ; 
Thou shalt not drink from amber z 
Thou shalt not rest on down ; 
lie Arabia shall not steep thy locks, 
Nor Sidon tinge thy gown. 

14 

" Leave gold and myrrh and jewels, 

Rich table and soft bed, 
To them who of man's seed are born, 
3.20 Whom woman's milk have fed. 
Thou wast not made for lucre, 

For pleasure, nor for rest ; 
Thou, that art sprung from the War-god's loins, 

And hast tugged at the she-wolf's breast. 

15 

125 " From sunrise unto sunset 

All earth shall hear thy fame ; 
A glorious*city thou shalt build. 

And name it by thy name. 
And there, unquenched through ages, 
wo Like Vesta's sacred iire, 

Shall live the spirit of thy nurse. 
The spirit of thy sire. 

16 

"The ox toils through the furrow, 
Obedient to the goad ; 
iS6 The patient ass, up flinty paths, 
Plods with his weary load ; 

112. Lfbya being northwestern Africa, the Libyan brine is the Mediteixa 
liean. 



112 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME, 

With whine and bound the spaniel 

His master's whistle hears ; 
And the sheep yields her patiently 
340 To the loud clashing shears. 

n 

" But thy nurse will hear no master f 

Thy nurse will bear no load ; 
And woe to them that shear her, 

And woe to them that goad ! 
i45 When all the pack, loud baying, 

Her bloody lair surrounds, 
She dies in silence, biting hard, 

Amidst the dying hounds. 

18 

*' Pomona loves the orchard ; 
150 And Liber loves the vine ; 

And Pales loves the straw-built shed 

Warm with the breath 6f kine ; 
And Venus /oves the whispers 
Of plighted youth and maid, 
M In April's ivory moonlight 

Beneath the chestnut shade. 

19 

*' But thy father loved the clashing 

Of broadsword and of shield ; 
He loves to drink the steam that reeks 
160 From the fresh battle-field 



149. Pomona was the goddess of fruit. 

150. Liber, or Bacchus. 

151. Pales was a rustic divinity. 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS. 113 

He smiles a smile more dreadful 
Than his own dreadful frown, 

When he sees the thick black cloud of smoke 
Go up from the conquered town. 

20 

166 "And such as is the War-god, 
The author of thy line, 
And such as she who suckled thee, 

Even such be thou and thine. 
Leave to the soft Campanian 
i70 His baths and his perfumes ; 
Leave to the sordid race of Tyre 

Their dyeing-vats and looms : 
Leave to the sons of Carthage 
The rudder and the oar : 
IT6 Leave to the Greek his marble Nymphs 
And scrolls of wordy lore. 

21 

** Thine, Roman, is the pilum ; 

Roman, the sword is thine, 
The even trench, the bristling mound, 
180 The legion's ordered line ; 

And thine the wheels of triumjDh, 

Which with their laurelled train 
Move slowly up the shouting streets 

To Jove's eternal fane. 

169. The inhabitants of the Campania, the fertile district below Latium, 
fielded to the seductions of an unwarlike life. 
171. The Tyrians were occupied only with manufactures and commerce. 
173. The Carthaginians had the carrying trade of the Old World. 
y^".. The pilum was the long Roman spear. 



114 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

22 

180 " Beneath thy yoke the Volscian 

Shall veil his lofty brow ; 

Soft Capua's curled revellers 

Before thy chairs shall bo\T ; 
The Lucumoes of Arnus 
190 Shall quake thy rods to see ; 

And the proud Samnite's heart of sted 
Shall yield to only thee. 

23 

*' The Gaul shall come against thee 
From the land of snow and night ; 
196 Thou shalt give his fair-haired armies 
To the raven and the kite. 

24 

** The Greek shall come against thee, 

The conqueror of the East. 
Beside him stalks to battle 
200 The huge earth-shaking beast, 
The beast on whom the castle 

With all its guards doth stand, 
The beast who hath between his eyes 

The serpent for a hand. 
206 First march the bold Epirotes, 

Wedged close with shield and spear ; 
And the ranks of false Tarentum 

Are glittering in the rear. 

193. The prediction points to the invasion by the Gauls under Brenuus 
197. The Greek invader is Pyrrhus, king of Epeiros. 
200. Pyrrhus made use of the elephant. 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS. 115 

25 

*' The ranks of false Tarentum 
no Like hunted sheep shall fly ; 
In vain the bold Epirotes 

Shall round their standards die. 
And Apennine's gray vultures 
Shall have a noble feast 
318 On the fat and the eyes 

Of the huge earth-shaking beast. 

26 

** Hurrah ! for the good weapons 
That keep the War-god's land. 
Hurrah ! for Rome's stout pilum 
320 In a stout Roman hand. 

Hurrah ! for Rome's short broadswo«^ 
That through tlie thick array 
Of levelled spears and serried shields 
Hews deep its gory way. 

27 

325 " Hurrah ! for the great triumph 
That stretches many a mile. 
Hurrah ! for the wan captives 

That pass in endless file. 
Ho ! bold Epirotes, whither 
2M Hath the Red King ta'en flight? 
Ho ! dogs of false Tarentum, 
Is not the gown washed white ? 

28 
" Hurrah ! for the gTeat triumph 
That stretches many a mile. 

230. The word Pjjrrhus means red- 



116 LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. 

236 Hurrah ! for the rich dye of Tyre, 

And the fine web of Nile, 

The hebnets gay with plumage 

Torn from the pheasant's wings, 
The belts set thick with starry gems 
240 That shone on Indian kings. 
The urns of massy silver. 

The goblets rough with gold, 
The many-colored tablets bright 
With loves and wars of old, 
M5 The stone that breathes and struggle% 
The brass that seems to speak, — 
Such cunning they who dwell on high 
Have given unto the Greek. 

29 

" Hurrah ! for Manius Curius, 
260 The bravest son of Rome, 
Thrice in utmost need sent forth. 

Thrice drawn in triumph home. 
Weave, weave for Manius Curius 
The third embroidered gown: 
266 Make ready the third lofty car. 

And twine the third green crown | 
And yoke the steeds of Rosea 

With necks like a bended bow. 
And deck the bull, Mevania's bull, 
360 The bull as white as snow. 

30 

** Blest and thrice blest the Roman 
Who sees Rome's brightest day, 
Who sees that long victorious pomp 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS. 117 

Wind down the Sacred Way, 
isti And through the bellowing Forum 
And round the Suppliant's Grove, 
Up to the everlasting gates 
Of Ca2Jitolian Jove. 

31 

** Then where, o'er two bright havens, 
370 The towers of Corinth frown ; 
Where the gigantic King of Day 

On his own Rhodes looks down ; 
Where soft Orontes murmurs 

Beneath the laurel shades ; 
276 Where Nile reflects the endless length 

Of dark-red colonnades ; 
Where m the still deep water, 

Sheltered froip waves and blasts, 
Bristles the dusky forests 
380 Of Byrsa's thousand masts ; 
Where fur-clad hunters wander 

A.midst the northern ice ; 
Where through the sand of morning-land 

The camel bears the spice ; 
9M Where Atlas flings his shadow 

Far o'er the western foam, — 
Shall be great fear on all who hear 

The mighty name of Rome." 



ttt The gigantic Colossus of Rhodes, which was a statue to the Min 

273. The city of Antioch was on the banks of the Orontes. 

=280. Byrsa, the BibHcal Bozra, was the citadel of Carthage. 

285. The reference is to the great mountain range of northwestern Africa 



118 THE ABM AD A. 

THE ARMADA. 

A FRAGMENT. 

In 15S7, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, was executed. This ended 
the hope of the English Catholics that the crown of Eng-land would 
pass to a monarch who would restore their Church. Philip II of 
Spain, a Catholic king with whom England had long been actually 
— but not admittedly — at war, now determined to win the Eng- 
lish kingdom for himself. He began to assemble a great fleet in 
order to invade England. Drake caused a postponement by sailing 
into Cadiz harbor and destroying some fifty ships ; but about 
a year later, July 29, I088, the " Great Armada "" of lo4 vessels, 
apparently the most formidable array that the world had ever 
seen, set sail from Coruiia and descended upon the English coast. 
Under the leadership of Drake, Howard, Hawkins, Frobisher, 
Raleigh, and others, the English fleet of some eighty vessels big 
and little — the largest smaller than the smallest Spaniard — 
sallied forth to do or die. For a week a running fight was kept 
up. Roughly handled, the great Spanish ships sought to escape by 
sailing around Scotland. Eventually only fifty-three vessels of the 
original Armada succeeded in returning to Spain. 

Macaulay's poem — which is merely a fragment, not a complete 
work — tells how the English people rose to the demands of the 
hour when news of the Armada's approach reached them. Pecul- 
iarly picturesque is the account of how the warning spread from 
Cornwall through Devonshire, Somersetshire, and Wiltshire : and 
of how Bristol and London, Ely and Lincoln passed the word on 
until finally like wildfire it had traversed and encircled the entire 
island. One should refer to a map of England while reading the 
poem in order to appreciate the full significance of Macaulay's 
allusions. 

Attend, all ye who list to hear our noble Eng- 
land's praise ; 
I tell of the thrice famous deeds she wrought in an- 
cient days, 



THE ARMADA. 119 

When that great fleet invincible against her bore in 

vain 
The richest spoils of Mexico, the stoutest hearts of 

Spain. 

6 It was about the lovely close of a warm summer day, 
There came a gallant merchant-ship full sail to Ply- 
mouth Bay ; 
Her crew hath seen Castile's black fleet, beyond Au- 

rigny's isle, 
At earliest twilight, on the waves lie heaving many a 

mile. 
At sunrise she escaped their van, by God's especial 

grace ; 
10 And the tall Pinta, till the noon, had held her close 

in chase. 
Forthwitli a guard at every gun was placed along 

the wall; 
The beacon blazed upon the roof of Edgecumbe's lofty 

hall; 
Many a light fishing-bark put out to pry along the 

coast, 
And with loose reign and bloody spur rode inland 

many a post. 
15 With his white hair unbonneted, the stout old sheriff 

comes ; 
Behind him march the halberdiers ; before him sound 

the drums ; 

6. Plymouth Bay : on the English Channel, between Cornwall and Devon- 
shu-e. 

7. Aurigny : Alderney, off the coast of France. 
12. Edgecumbe: a promontory in Cornwall. 

16. halberdiers : a halberd was a weapon shaped so as to serve both as axe 
and spear. 



120 THE ABMABA. 

His yeomen round the market cross make clear an 

ample space ; 
For there behooves him to set up the standard of 

Her Grace. 
And haughtily the trumpets peal, and gayly dance the 

bells, 
20 As slow upon the laboring wind the royal blazon swells. 
Look how the Lion of the sea lifts up his ancient crown, 
And underneath his deadly paw treads the gay lilies 

down. 
So stalked he when he turned to flight, on that famed 

Picard field, 
Bohemia's plume, and Genoa's bow, and Caesar's eagle 

shield. 
25 So glared he when at Agincourt in wrath he turned to 

bay, 
And crushed and torn beneath his claws the princely 

hunters lay. 
Ho ! strike the flagstaff deep, sir Knight ; ho I scatter 

flowers, fair maids ; 
Ho I gunners, fire a loud salute ; ho ! gallants, draw 

your blades ; 

21. the Lion of the sea : England. 

22. the gay lilies : the device upon the flag of France. 

23. Picard field: Cr(5cy (134G) in Picardy, where Edward III of England 
defeated Philip VI of France. 

24. Bohemia'' s plume : the King of Bohemia had been an ally of France at 
the battle of Crt5cy. His crest was three feathers (afterwards adopted by the 
Prince of Wales). 

24. Genoa'' s bow: other allies of France at Cr^cy were Genoese bowmen 
from Liturgia. 

24. Csesar^s eagle shield: Charles, the son of the King of Bohemia, was 
also King of the Romans. The princes who bore this title, might — as did 
Charlemagne and his successors — regard themselves as heirs to the Roman 
Emperors, all of whom used to adopt the name of Caesar. The eagle was the 
military symbol of Rome. 

25. Agincourt : a battle won by Henry V of England over the French, 1415. 



THE ARMADA. 121 

Thou sun, shine on her joyously ; ye breezes, waft her 
wide; 
30 Our glorious semper eadem, the banner of our 
pride. 
The freshening breeze of eve unfurled that banner's 
massy fold ; 
The parting gleam of sunshine kissed that haughty 

scroll of gold ; 
Night sank upon the dusky beach, and on the purple 

sea. 
Such night in England ne'er had been, nor e'er again 
shall be. 
35 From Eddystone to Berwick bounds, from Lynn to 
Milford Bay, 
That time of slumber was as bright and busy as the 

day; 
For swift to east and s\yift to west the ghastly war- 
flame spread. 
High on St. Michael's Mount it shone : it shone on 

Beachy Head. 
Far on the deep the Spaniard saw, along each southern 
shire, 
40 Cape beyond cape, in endless range, those twinkling 
points of fire. 

30. Semper eadem: " Always the same " — motto of Queen Elizabeth. 
35. Eddystone: a reef in tlie English Channel, near Plymouth. 

Berwick : a town upon the Tweed, the river marking the boundary be- 
tween England and Scotland. 

Ly7in : in Norfolk, a county on the eastern coast. 

Milford Bay : in Wales. 
By referring to these four places, Macaulay practically bounds England, 
south, north, east, and west. 
38. St. MichaeVs 3Iount: a lofty rock, off Penzance, Cornwall. 

Beachy Head: a headland in Sussex. 
Between these two points lies almost the entire southern shore of Eng- 
land. 



122 THE ARMADA. 

The fisher left his skiff to rock on Tamar's glittering 

waves ; 
The rugged miners poured to war from Mendip's sun- 
less caves ; 
O'er Longleat's towers, o'er Cranbourne's oaks, the 

fiery herald flew : 
He roused the shepherds of Stonehenge, the rangers 

of Beaulieu. 
45 Right sharp and quick the bells all night rang out from 

Bristol town, 
And ere the day three hundred horse had met on 

Clifton down ; 
The sentinel on Whitehall gate looked forth into the 

night, 
And saw o'erhanging Richmond Hill the streak of 

blood-red light. 
Then bugle's note and cannon's roar the deathlike 

silence broke, 
50 And with one start, and with one cry, the royal city woke. 
At once on all her stately gates arose the answering fires ; 
At once the wild alarum clashed from all her reeling 

spires ; 
From all the batteries of the Tower pealed loud the 

voice of fear ; 
And all the thousand masts of Thames sent back a 

louder cheer : 

41. Tamar''s: a river in Devonshire. 

42. Mendip''s sunless caves: the mines in Somersetshire. 
43-44. Longleat, Stonehenge : in Wiltshire. 

43-44. Cranbourne : in Dorsetshire ; Beaulieu: in the county of Hants. 

45. Bristol: on the Avon River, 118 miles west of London. 

46. Clifton : a suburb of Bristol. 

47. Whitehall : then a royal palace in London. 

48. Richmond Hill : on tlie outskirts of London. 
53. the Tower : the Tower of London. 



THE AUMADA. 123 

55 And from the furthest wards was heard the rush of 

hurrying feet, 
And the broad streams of pikes and flags rushed down 

each roaring street ; 
And broader still became the blaze, and louder still the din. 
As fast from every village round the horse came spur- 
ring in : 
And eastward straight from wild Blackheath the war- 
like errand went, 
60 And roused in many an ancient hall the gallant squires 

of Kent. 
Southward from Surrey's pleasant hills flew those 

bright couriers forth ; 
High on bleak Hampstead's swarthy moor they 

started for tlie north ; 
And on, and on, without a pause untired they bounded 

still : 
All night from tower to tower they sprang ; they 

sprang from hill to hill : 
66 Till the proud peak unfurled the flag o'er Darwin's 

rocky dales, 
Till like volcanoes flared to heaven the stormy hills of 

Wales, 
Till twelve fair counties saw the blaze on Malvern's 

lonely height. 
Till streamed in crimson on the wind the Wrekin's 

crest of light, 

59. Blackheath : a suburb of London, to the southeast. 

60. Kent : a county in the southeastern part of England. 

61. Surrey: a county next west of Kent. 

62. Hampstead : a suburb of Loudon, to the northwest. 

65. Darwin : the Derwent in Derbyshire, a county near the center of Eng- 
land. 

67. Malvern Hills: these separate Worcestershire from Herefordshire. 

68. the Wrekin : a hill in Shropshire, the county north of Herefordshire. 



124 . IVRY. 

Till broad and fierce the star came forth on Ely's 
stately fane, 
70 And tower and hamlet rose in arms o'er all the bound- 
less plain ; 

Till Belvoir's lordly terraces the sign to Lincoln sent, 

And Lincoln sped the message on o'er the wide vale 
of Trent ; 

Till Skiddaw saw the fire that burnt on Gaunt's em- 
battled pile, 

And the red glare on Skiddaw roused the burghers of 
Carlisle. 



IVRY. 

A SONG OF THE HUGUENOTS. 

Ivry commemorates the great victory of 1590 won by the Hu- 
guenots or French Protestants, under Henry of Navarre, over the 
Catholics. The struggle between the two factions was political as 
well as religious. Henry was fighting for his rightful possession, 
the throne of France, against the forces of the Catholic or Holy 
League and the powerful Guise family, whose leaders in this bat- 
tle were the dukes of Mayenne and Aumale. Philip II of Spain 
was also pitted against Henry in his contest for the throne. The 
Catholic armies included many hired troops from the Low Coun- 
tries (Philip's possessions), and from Switzerland and Austria. 
Macaulay makes frequent allusions to these in the poem. 

69. Ely: a cathedral town in Cambridgeshire some seventy miles north- 
east of London. 

71. Lincoln : a cathedral town in Lincolnshire, some sixty miles northwest 
of Ely. 

71. Belvoir : the Duke of Rutland's house on the borders of Lincolnshire. 

72. Trent : a river flowing through five or more of the interior countjes of 
England, emptying into the Humber. 

73. Skiddaw: a mountain in Cumberland, the most northwesterly county 
in England. 

73. GnunVs embattled pile : Lancaster Castle, in the county of Lancashire. 

74. Carlisle : the capital of Cumberland. 



IV RY. 125 

Now glory to the Lord of Hosts, from whom all glories 

are ! 
And glory to our Sovereign Liege, King Henry of 

Navarre ! 
Now let there be the merry sound of music and of dance, 
Through thy corn-fields green, and sunny vines, O 

pleasant land of France ! 
s And thou, Rochelle, our own Rbchelle, proud city of 

the waters, 
Again let rapture light the eyes of all thy mourning 

daughters. 
As thou wert constant in our ills, be joyous in our joy, 
For cold, and stiff, and still are they who wrought thy 

walls annoy. 
Hurrah ! Hurrah ! a single field hath turned the chance 

of war, 
10 Hurrah ! Hurrah ! for Ivrj, and Henry of Navarre. 

Oh ! how our hearts were beating wlien, at the dawn of 

day, 
We saw the army of the League drawn out in long 

, array ; 
With all its priest-led citizens, and all its rebel-peers, 
And Appenzel's stout infantry, and Egmont's Flem- 
ish spears. 
15 There rode the brood of false Lorraine, the curses of 
our land ; 
And dark Mayenne was in the midst, a truncheon in 
his hand : 

5 La Rochelle : on the coast of France ; the stronghold of the Huguenots 
during the religious wars. 

15. the brood of false Lorraine : the Guises were the most famous branch 
of the great ducal family of Lorraine, which played an important part in 
French history. 



126 IVEY. 

And, as we looked on them, we thought of Seine's 
empurpled flood, 

And good Coligni's hoary hair all dabbled with his 
blood ; 

And we cried unto the living God, who rules the fate 
of war, 
20 To fight for his own holy name, and Henry of Na- 
varre. 

The king is come to marshall us, in all his armor drest. 
And he has bound a snow-white plume upon his gallant 

crest. 
He looked upon his people, and a tear was in his eye ; 
He looked upon the traitors, and his glance was stern 

and high. 
25 Right graciously he smiled on us, as rolled from wing 

to wing, 
Down all our line, a deafening shout, " God save our 

Lord the King ! " 
" And if my standard-bearer fall, as fall full well he 

may, 
For never saw I promise yet of such a bloody fray. 
Press where ye see my white plume shine, amidst the 

ranks of war, 
30 And be your oriflamme to-day the helmet of Navarre." 

Hurrah ! the foes are moving. Hark to the mingled 

din 
Of fife, and steed, and trump, and drum, and roaring 

culver in ! 

18. Admiral Coligni {or Coligny) : a famous Huguenot leader, who per- 
ished in the massacre of the Huguenots on St. Bartholomew's Night, 1572. 

30. oriflamme: an ensign or banner. Originally the ancient battle- 
atandard of France. 



WRY. 127 

The fiery Duke is pricking fast across St. Andre's 
plain, 

With all the hireling chivalry of Guelclers and Al- 
mayne. 
35 Now by the lips of those ye love, fair gentlemen of 
France, 

Charge for the golden lilies, — upon them with the 
lance. 

A thousand spurs are strikhig deep, a thousand spears 
in rest, 

A thousand knights are pressing close behind the snow- 
white crest ; 

And in they burst, and on they rushed, while, like a 
guiding star, 
40 Amidst the thickest carnage blazed the helmet of Na- 
varre. 

Now, God be praised, the day is ours. Mayenne hath 

turned his rein, 
D'Aumale hath cried for quarter. The Flemish count 

is slain. 
Their ranks are breaking like thin clouds before a 

Biscay gale ; 
The field is heaped with bleeding steeds, and flags, 

and cloven mail. 
45 And then we thought on vengeance, and, all along our 

van, 
"Remember St. Bartholomew!" was passed from 

man to man. 
But out spake gentle Henry, " No Frenchman is my 

foe : 
Down, down, with every foreigner, but let your breth- 
ren go." 



128 IVRY. 

Oh ! was there ever such a knight, in friendship or in 
war, 
M As our Sovereign Lord, King Henry, the soldier of 
Navarre ? 

Right well fought all the Frenchmen who fought for 

France to-day ; 
And many a lordly banner God gave them for a prey. 
But we of the religion have borne us best in fight ; 
And the good Lord of Rosny hath ta'en the cornet 
white ; 
55 Our own true Maximilian the cornet white hath ta'en, 
The cornet white with crosses black, the flag of false 

Lorraine. 
Up with it high ; unfurl it wide ; that all the host may 

know 
How God hath humbled the proud house which 

wrought his church such woe. 
Then on the ground while trumpets sound their loud- 
est point of war, 
60 Fling the red shreds, a footcloth meet for Henry of 
Navarre. 

Ho ! maidens of Vienna ; ho ! matrons of Lucerne ; 
Weep, weep, and rend your hair for those who never 

shall return. 
Ho ! Philip, send, for charity, thy Mexican pistoles, 
That Antwerp monks may sing a mass for thy poor 

spearmen's souls. 

55. Maximilian, Baron de Rosny, was the friend and adviser of Henry of 
Navarre. A cornet is the standard of a troop of cavalry. The word was 
first applied to the bearer of the standard ; hence, its derived meaning. 

63. ]nstoles: Spanish gold coins. In modern times they have been worth 
about $4.00, but were formerly of much greater value. 



THE BATTLE OF NASEBY. 129 

65 Ho ! gallant nobles of the League, look that your 

arms be bright ; 
Ho ! burghers of St. Genevieve, keep watch and 

ward to-night; 
For our God hath crushed the tyrant, our God hath 

raised the slave. 
And mocked the counsel of the wise, and the valor of 

the brave. 
Then glory to his holy name, from whom all glories are ; 
70 And glory to our Sovereign Lord, King Henry of 

Navarre. 



THE BATTLE OF NASEBY. 

By Ohadiah Bind-the{r-ki7igs-in-chains-a7id-their- 
nohles-with-links-of-iron., Serjeant in Breton's regi- 
ment. 

Naseby was the decisive battle of the English Civil War. The 
Parliamentarians under Fairfax and Cromwell defeated the Roy- 
alists under Charles I and Prince Rupert, June 14, 1645. Crom- 
well, nominally second in command, was really responsible for the 
victory. Prince Rupert broke the left wing of the Parliamentary 
army, but allowed his men to gallop off in pursuit. Cromwell's 
wing drove the King's cavalry before him, and then re-formed to 
break up his center, which was thus attacked both in front and 
rear. The Cavaliers were pursued to within two miles of Leicester. 
King Charles lost more than half of his army in killed and prison- 
ers, all his cannon and baggage, and his private correspondence, 
which helped afterwards to decide his fate. 

This poem represents the enthusiasm for their cause, and the 
violent hatred for the Court and Church party, which animated 
some of the Puritans. 

66. St. Genevieve : the patron saint of Paris. Ivry is forty miles west of 
that city. 



180 THE BATTLE OF NASEBY. 

Oh ! wherefore come ye forth, in triumph from the 
North, 
With your hands, and your feet, and your raiment 
all red ? 
And wherefore doth your rout send forth a joyous 
shout ? 
And whence be the grapes of the wine-press which 
ye tread ? 

5 Oh, evil was the root, and bitter was the fruit. 

And crimson was the juice of the vintage that we 
trod ; 
For we trampled on the throng of the haughty and the 
strong. 
Who sat in the high places, and slew the saints 
of God. 

It was about the noon of a glorious day of June, 
10 That w^e saw their banners dance, and their curiasses 
shine. 
And the Man of Blood was there, with his long 
essenced hair, 
And Astley, and Sir Marmaduke, and Rupert of 
the Rhine. 

Like a servant of the Lord, with his Bible and his 
sword. 
The General rode along us to form us to the fight, 
15 When a murmuring sound broke out, and swell'd into 
a shout. 
Among the godless horsemen upon the tyrant's right. 

11. the Man of Blood: Charles I. 

12. Rupert of the Rhine : Charles's nephew. His mother married a noble- 
man of Germany ; hence the allusion to the Rhine. 



THE BATTLE OF NASEBY. 131 

And hark ! like the roar of the billows on the shore, 
Tiie cry of battle rises along their charging line ! 
For God ! for the Cause ! for the Church, for the 
Laws ! 
20 For Charles King of England, and Rupert of the 
Rhine! 



The furious German comes, with his clarions and his 
drums. 
His bravoes of Alsatia, and pages of Whitehall ; 
They are bursting on our flanks. Grasp your pikes, 
close your ranks ; 
For Rupert never comes but to conquer or to fall. 

25 They are here ! They rush on ! We are broken ! We 
are gone ! 
Our left is borne before them like stubble on the 
blast. 
O Lord, put forth thy might I O Lord, defend the 
right ! 
Stand back to back, in God's name, and fight it to 
the last. 

Stout Skippon hath a wound ; the centre hath given 
ground : 
30 Hark ! hark ! — What means the trampling of horse- 
men on our rear ? 
Whose banner do I see, boys ? 'T is he, thank God, 
't is he, boys. 
Bear up another minute : brave Oliver is here. 

22. Alsatia : a notorious part of London, infested with thieves and rascals. 
29. Skippon : a Parliamentary general. 



132 THE BATTLE OF NASEBY. 

Their heads all stooping low, their points all in a row, 

Like a whirlwind on the trees, like a deluge on the 

dykes, 

35 Our cuirassiers have burst on the ranks of the Accurst, 

And at a shock have scattered the forest of his 

pikes. 

Fast, fast, the gallants ride, in some safe nook to hide 
Their coward heads, predestined to rot on Temple 
Bar: 
And he — he turns, he flies : — shame on those cruel 
eyes 
40 That bore to look on torture, and dare not look on 
war. 

Ho ! comrades, scour the plain ; and ere ye stri^) the 

slain, 

First give another stab to make your search secure. 

Then shake from sleeves and pockets their broad-pieces 

and lockets. 

The tokens of the wanton, the plunder of the poor. 

45 Fools ! your doublets shone with gold, and your hearts 
were gay and bold, 
When you kissed your lily hands to your lemans 
to-day ; 
And to-morrow shall the fox, from her chambers in 
the rocks. 
Lead forth her tawny cubs to howl above the prey. 

38. Temple Bar: the heads of persons guilty of treason were impaled on 
this gate, at the entrance to the City of London. 

43. broad-pieces : gold coins vorth twenty shillings, broader and thinner 
than the guinea. 

4G. lemans: sweethearts. 



THE BATTLE OF NASEBY. 133 

Where be your tongues that late mocked at heaven 
and hell and fate, 
50 And the fingers that once were so busy with your 
blades, 
Your perfum'd satin clothes, your catches and your 
oaths, 
Your stage-plays and your sonnets, your diamonds 
and your spades ? 

Down, down, forever down, with tlie mitre and the 
crown. 
With the Belial of the Court, and the Mammon of 
the Pope ; 
55 Tlieie is woe in Oxford Halls ; there is wail in Dur- 
ham's Stalls : 
The Jesuit smites his bosom ; the Bishop rends his 
cope. 

And She of the seven hills shall mourn her children's 
ills, 
And tremble when she thinks on the edge of Eng- 
land's sword; 

51. catches: songs. 

52. stage-plays . . . diamonds . . . spades: the Puritans considered card- 
playing and the theater immoral. 

52. sonnets : love-poems, or poems dealing with light and frivolous subjects, 
which the Puritans would liave considered wicked. 

53. mitre: i. e., the Pope, with whom the Puritans associated Bishop Laud 
and Charles's party in the Church. 

54. Belial : means " wickedness " in the Old Testament ; the term is ap- 
plied to Satan in the New Testament. 

54. 3[ammon : the personification of riches and worldliness. St. Matt. vi. 
24, St. Luke xvi. 9. 

55. Oxford Halls : the Oxford colleges were on the King's side. 

55. in Durham'' s Stalls: among tlie clergy attached to Durham Cathedral. 

56. Jesuit : an order of priests founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1534. 

56. cope: a sleeveless, hooded mantle worn by the priests. 

57. She of the seven hills: Rome, the city of the Popes. 



134 THE BATTTE OF NASEBY. 

And the Kings of earth in fear shall shudder when 
they hear 
60 Wliat the hand of God hath wrought for the Houses 
and the Word. 

60. the Houses : Parliament. 



RIVERSIDE LITERATURE SERIES 



147. Pope's Rape of the Lock'ecc. 

148. Hawthorne's Marble Faun. 

149. Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, 

150. Ouida's Dog of Flanders, etc. 

151. Ewing's Jatkanapes, etc. 

152. Martineau's Tlie Peasant and the Prince. 

153. Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. 

154. Shakespeare's Tempest. 

155. Irving's Life of Goldsmith. 

150. Tennyson's Gareth and Lynette, etc. 

157. The Song of Roland. 

158. Malory's Merlin and Sir Balin. 

159. Beowulf. 

160. Spenser's Faerie Queene. Book I. 

161. Dickens's Tale of Two Cities. 

162. Prose and Poetry of Cardinal Newman, 

163. Shakespeare's Henry V. 

164. De Qunicey's Joan of Arc, etc. 

165. Scott's Quentin Durward. 

166. Carlyle's Heroe? and Hero-Worship. 

167. Longfellow's Autobiographical Poems. 

168. Shelley's Poems. 

169. Lowell's My Garden Acquaintance, etc. 

170. Lamb's Essays of Elia 

171. 172. Emerson's Essays 

173. Kate Douglas Wiggin's Flag-Raising. 

174. Kate Douglas Wiggin's Finding a Home. 

175. Whittier's Autobiograpliicai Poems. 
17(). Burroughs's Afoot and Afloat. 

177. Bacon's Essays. 
i78. Selections from John Ruskin. 
179. King Arthur Stories from Malory. 
ISO. Palmer's Odyssey. 

181. Goldsmith's The Good-Nature<l Man. 

182. Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conciue.r. 
• 183. Old English and Scottish Ballads. 

184. Shakespeare's King Lear. 

185. Moores's Life of Lincoln. 

lSt>. Thoreau's Camping in the Maine Woods. 
187, 188. Huxley's Autobiography, and Es.^ays. 

189. Byron's Childe Harold, Canto IV, etc. 

190. Wasliington's Farewell Address, and Web- 

ster's Bunker Hill Oration. 

191. The Second Shepherds' Play, etc. 

192. Mrs. Gaskell's Cranford. 

193. Williams's ^neid. 

194. Irving's Bracebridge Hall. Selections. 
'195. Thoreau's Walden. 

196. Sheridan's The Rivals. 

197. Barton's Captains of Industry. Selected. 

198. 199. Macaulay'sLord Clive, and W. Hast- 

ings 
200. Howells's The Rise of Silas Lapham. 
201 Harris's Little Mr.Tliimblefinger Stories. 

202. Jewett s The Niglit Before Thanksgiving, 

203. Shuraway's Nibeluntrenlied. 

204. Slieffield's Old Testament Narrative. 
20.".. Powers's A Dickens Reader. 

2(M;. Goethe's Faust. Part I. 
21 >7. Cooper's The Spy. 

208. Aldrich's Story of a Bad Boy. 

209. Warner's Being a Boy. 

210. Kate Douglas Wiggin's Polly Oliver's 

Problem. 



{Continued) 

11. Milton's Areopagitica, etc. 



212. Sliakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. 

213. Hemingway's Le Morte Arthur, 

214. Moores"s Life of Columbus. 

215. Bret Harte's Tennessee's Partner, etc, 
210. Ralph Roister Doister. 

217. Gorboduc. {In preparatioii .) 

218. Selected Lyrics from Wordsworth, Keats, 

and Shelley. 

219. Selected Lyrics from Dryden, Collins, 

Gray, Cowper, and Burns. 

220. Southern Hoems. 

221. Mat^aulay's Speeches on Copyright; Lin- 

coln's Cooper Union Address. 

222. Briggs's College Life. 

223. Selections from the Prose Writings of Mat- 

thew Arnold. 

224. Perry's American Mind and American 

Idealism. 

225. Newman's University Subjects, 

226. Burroughs's Studies in Nature and l.it- 

eratui-e . 

227. Bryce's Promoting Good Citizenship. 

228. Selected English Letters. 

229. Jewett's Play Day Stories. 

230. Grenfell's Adrift on an Ice-Pan, 

231. Muir's Stickeen. 

232. Harte's Waif of the Plains, etc. {In 

preparulioii.) 

233. Tennyson's The Coming of Arthur, the 

Holy Grail and the Passing of Arthur. 

234. Selected Essays. 

235. Briggs's To College Girls. 

236. Lowell's Literary Essays. (Selected.) 
1^37. Scott's Marmion. 

238. Short Stories. 

239. Selections from American Poetry. 

240. Howells's The Parlor Car, and The Sleep- 

ing Car. 

241. Mills's The Story of a Thousand- Year 

Pine, etc. 

242. Eliot's The Training for an Effective Life. 

243. Bryant's Iliad. Abridged Edition. 
M4 Lockwood's English Sonnets. 

245. Aiitin's At School in the Promised Land, 
24(;. Sliepard's Shakespeare Questions. 

247. Muir's The Boyhood of a Naturalist. 

248. Buswell's Life of Johnson. Abridged 

249. Palmer's Self-Cultivation in English, and 

The Glory of the Imperfect. 
2.50. Sheridan s The School for Scandal. 

251. Sir Gavvaii. and the Green Knight, and 

Piers the Ploughman. 

252. Howells's A Modern Instance. 

253. Helen Keller's The Story of My Life. 

{See also back cover.) 



(75) 



RIVERSIDE LITERATiTPi: crDirc 

,^, , ., LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

{Continued) 

EXTRA NUMBER 



American Authors and their Birthdays. 

Biographical Sketches of American Au- 
thors. 

Warriner's Teaching of English Classics 
in the Grades. 

Scudder's Literature in School. 

Longfellow Leaflets. 

Whittier Leaflets. 

Holmes Leaflets. 

Thomas's How to Teach English Clas- 
sics, 

Holbrook's Northland Heroes. 

The Riverside Song Book. 

Lowell's Fable for Critics. 

Selections frojii American Authors. 

Lowell Leaflets. 

Holbrook's Hiawatha Primer. 

Selections from English Authors. 

Hawthorne ' s Twice-Told Tales. Selected. 




S Irving 

lect. 
T Litera 
U A Dra; 

wat 

r HolbrouB. o DuuK 01 ryaiure Myths. 
W Brown's In the Days of Giants. 
A' Poems for the Study of Language. 
y Warner's In the "Wilderness. 
Z Nine Selected Poems. 



A A 



rr 

DD 
EE 



Coleridge's The Ancient Mariner and 
Lowell's The Vision of Sir Launfal. 

Poe's The Raven, Whittier's Snow- 
Bound, and Longfellow's The Court- 
ship of Miles Standish. 

Selections for Study and Memorizing. 

Sharps The Year Out-jf-Doors. 

Poems for Memorizing, 



LIBRARY BINDING 

135-136. Chaucer's Prologue, The Knight's Tale, and The Nun's Priest's Tale. 

160. Spenser's Faerie Queene, Book I. 

166. Carlyle's Heroes and Hero- Worship. 

168. Shelley's Poems. Selected. 

177. Bacon's Essays. 

178. Selections from the Works of John Ruskin. 

181-182. Goldsmith's The Good-Katured Man, and She Stoops to Conquer. 

183. Old English and Scottish Ballads. 

187-188. Huxley's Autobiography and Selected Essays. 

191. Second Shepherd's Play, Everyman, etc. 

211. Milton's Areopagitica, etc. 

216. Ralph Roister Doister. 

222. Briggs's College Life. 

223. Selections from the Prose Works of Matthew Arnold. 

224. Perry's The American Mind and American Idealism^ 

225. Newman's University Subjects. 

225. BurroughP's Studies in Nature and Literature. 

227. Bryce's Promoting Good Citizenshi;j. 

235. Briggs's To College Girls. 

236. Selected Literary Essays from James Russell T.owell. 
242. Eliot's The Training for an Effective Life. 

244. Lockwood's English Sonnets. 

246 . Shepard ' s Shakespeare Questi ons . 

248. Boswell's Life of Johnson. Abridged. 

250. Sheridan's The School for Scandal. 

251. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Piers the Ploughman. 

252. Howells's A Modern Instance. 

K. Minimum College Requirements in English for Study, 



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